


Undone Present

by LadyLanera



Series: Undoing Universe [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Gen, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2018-12-29 23:44:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 131,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12096021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLanera/pseuds/LadyLanera
Summary: After the events of Undoing the Past, the Snape family realizes that the present is slowly starting to unravel with bits of the future slipping in, causing havoc on the fractured timeline, as someone knows the truth about the changed timeline. Will Severus and his family ever be free of the darkness that surrounds them to have a normal life again?





	1. Rocky Start

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters of its characters belong to JK Rowling. I just play with them for pure entertainment.
> 
> Many thanks goes to all of my awesome readers for Undoing the Past. And a special thanks goes to Snapeswidow for letting me borrow her OC Demetri Le Fey for this fic and giving her the right voice. I hope you enjoy. Thanks.

Summer had come and gone quicker than ever before. It was as if the world had just skipped right ahead to the coming term and forgone the long-needed break from the students. At least that was how it felt for the young twenty-two-year-old professor. Soon, he would be forced back into the long hours of marking abysmal papers, listening to self-absorbed bratty pre-teens' and regular snotty teenagers' conversations, and brewing potion after potion when said-brats became ill with the many diseases they carried. Why had he returned?

With his two-year-old son now at his side always, he could have left at any point in time. Left it all behind and raised the boy far from the castle's prying eyes. And yet he remained. Though, there wasn't any reason to anymore. His father had been exonerated with his record expunged. His mother had physically recovered from her grave injuries while held captive for four years. He himself had been granted immunity for any crimes he may have committed while in the ranks of the Dark Lord. There honestly was no reason to subject himself to the torture that was teaching.

Was there?

_She has always stood by my side, even when I did not know it._

Frowning, he stood in front of a large window in his office and folded the letter once more. Taking extreme amount of care as he folded it, he then pocketed it and turned away with a sigh.

Were those just empty words written by a desperate man? After all, it was a year since his life had been turned upside down. And, save for that one encounter in London in late spring, he honestly couldn't see the truth behind those words. Only his parents and McGonagall stood by him.

It wasn't that he was wanting to jump into bed with the witch of course. His life was complicated enough. But a friend . . . He'd admit that he could do with a friend who was on his side these days. His parents, of course, were always on his side, but they were blood so they didn't count really. And Headmistress McGonagall, he supposed, was trying to make an effort, but for the most part everyone steered clear of him.

Once a Death Eater, always a Death Eater. No matter how hard he tried to change his spots, he knew that those words would remain deep down in some people's minds.

Shaking his head, he sighed heavily. He shouldn't have come back. He should have taken Harrison and run far away. His parents could always visit.

Though, he did need a roof for him and his son. A roof and income. And food. And—oh, whom was he kidding? He had returned because Hogwarts was where he felt comfortable. He was becoming complacent, a part of the woodwork so to speak, he supposed. Like another statue hidden away in the many dark parts of the castle.

Today would be the day the new staff would be announced to the others. Today he would see her again for certain. The letter currently in his pocket had said they were to be coworkers, and the Astronomy position had become vacant as of last term. Adding on top of that, he recalled that she and Headmistress McGonagall got along pretty well. So, logically speaking, she would be there. And yet a part of him reminded him of his luck.

"There ya are," a gruff voice stated from the doorway.

The young man glanced up and smiled faintly when he noticed the hazel eyes watching him. Little Harrison was getting so big nowadays. Where he once was unsteadied, he had become more stable. In fact, he was quite the talker now. It made quiet moments very rare these days.

"Hi, Dada!" the little boy shouted as he ran as fast as he could towards his father.

Bending down, the twenty-two-year-old scooped up the toddler instantly, setting him on his hip.

It seemed a lifetime ago that this little boy had arrived in the middle of a November night.

When Harrison kissed his cheek a second later, the young father raised a brow at the boy. It was a game they played nowadays. Who would break first and start to laugh. It never lasted more than a few seconds. In fact, more often than not, it was always Harrison who would start giggling, causing his father to join in soon afterwards. So much happiness surrounded this little boy, so much good. It was as it should have been. As his future self had wanted for all of them.

"All right there, sport," stated the blue-eyed, shaggy brown-haired man, grabbing the toddler back. "Time to let Daddy get back to work. He'll come after his meetin' with the boss lady."

The young man regretted letting his son go instantly, as the wails came from the boy. He glanced up at his own father and sighed. The boy always seemed to think this was to be his last time ever he'd be with his father. No matter how much the young father tried to show him that wasn't the case.

"Go, Severus," the young man's father said with a nod. "I got this."

Kicking himself internally, Severus sighed heavily. His father was right. He had to go or he'd be late. And this was one year he didn't necessarily want to be late for the annual staff meeting. He had messed up their first real meeting. He wasn't going to mess up their second. Not if he wanted a friend again at least. He turned away and left with a heavy heart, Harrison's sobs serenading him.

* * *

 

Severus stood near the back in his usual spot in the staff room. Staff meetings in the past for him always led to someone thinking he cared about their lives. As if. But this year was going to be different he knew. This year he knew what was to come. Or rather whom was to come. Or at least he had an idea, and that was good enough. His hand instinctively brushed against the faded letter in his pocket again for what seemed like the hundredth time since he left his office. His luck was changing as it had done ever since that early November morning when little Harrison had arrived.

He looked around the room, searching to see if she had arrived yet. He wasn't going to kid himself. He wasn't really looking for love just yet. Really he wasn't. But a friend . . . one he didn't really have to try hard with—that sounded good to him. Real good. Someone to talk to. Or rather bitch about the bratty students with.

As the door opened once more, a dark-haired witch easily slipped inside. Smoothing a hand over her purple robes to rid them of nonexistent wrinkles, the young witch glanced nervously around the room. Severus could see that she was trying hard not to wince when nearly every head turned to stare at her. He knew that feeling all too well. She plastered a smile on her face as she slowly made her way to the back of the room near him. Leaning against the back wall, she crossed her arms over her chest, raising a challenging eyebrow at the few professors who still stared.

"If you take a picture," she stated curtly, "it will last longer."

There were a few mumbles as the few who had been looking turned away from the witch. Severus frowned and glanced towards Headmistress McGonagall. He'd give the young witch some credit, though. She did seem to have mastered sarcasm.

The gawkers turned their attention away from her, resulting in a snort from the young woman. She hated being stared at, which she knew was odd with her being a professor but students were supposed to give her their undivided attention. Adults staring always made her feel as if they were looking for a weakness or waiting for her to make a mistake.

"Now, that we're all here," McGonagall stated brusquely from the front of the room. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now, I'm certain most of you would like to return to hiding in your offices until the start of term as was typically done, but now that I'm in charge, I thought we could start with a little exercise." She smiled thinly as she glanced around the room. She was enjoying this a bit too much clearly. "A trust exercise if you will."

The young woman's eyebrow rose nearly to her hairline at the woman's words. "You have got to be kidding me. When did we all become ten-year-olds?" she whispered.

Severus glanced at the witch who beat him to express his outrage. They certainly hadn't done this last year with Headmaster Dumbledore in charge. Though, it was different times then unfortunately. Every day now there were more and more reports about Aurors rounding up former Death Eaters. And seeing as how he was one . . . His frown deepened. Is that why McGonagall was going to have them do this silly exercise? So the others would start to trust him again? He shook his head. He'd be damned if she started to treat him that differently. Turning away, he headed for the door to leave.

"Ah perfect!" McGonagall's voice called out behind him suddenly. "Severus, if you'll join me up here please."

He stopped, staring at the door. She had to be joking. He slowly turned towards the witch and took note that there was no amusement on her face, only a look of extreme seriousness. His shoulders sagged, and he slowly meandered towards the front of the room. Why did he want to teach again?

McGonagall turned to the rest of the group, her eyes wandering over everyone before she finally stopped and smiled.

"Miss Le Fey, if you may join us?" Headmistress McGonagall called out, motioning next to Severus.

Severus did his best not to stare up at the ceiling. He should have quit. Left the damned castle once and for all. But who would employ a former Death Eater like him in this post-Dark Lord era?

"Of course, Headmistress," replied the young dark-haired witch as she made her way to the front of the room. She clasped her hands behind her back and glanced at him before finding a spot on the back wall to stare at. The entire room was staring again, and she brushed down her robes nervously.

"Excellent." McGonagall turned back to the others. "Severus and Demetri will now demonstrate for us the exercise." She returned her attention to them again. "You will each take a turn and stare into each other's eyes for sixty seconds."

"What?!"

Demetri jumped at his outburst, her head whipping around to stare at him. "I know I'm not as pretty as some of the British witches I've seen around the village," she snarled, "but staring at me for sixty seconds wouldn't kill you."

He blinked when the witch snapped at him. What on earth was she going on about? He merely was outraged at the fact that McGonagall had wanted them to stare into each other's eyes as if they were lovers or something. He then crossed his arms, unable to hold back his snarky reply. He really hated being attacked for no reason. "Perhaps it's something you never learned across the pond, but the world does not revolve around you so kindly keep your 'quaint' remarks to yourself."

"Severus!" McGonagall barked.

"I never said I thought the world revolved around me. Maybe you believe it revolves around you the way you are carrying on like a petulant child." Demetri crossed her own arms and cocked her head to the side. She clearly hated being yelled at even more than being stared at by complete strangers "You don't want to be here. We get that. We all get that, so maybe if you just shut up and did what the Headmistress asked of us you could go back to sulking in the back of the room."

Severus's eyes flashed before he stared deep into her eyes, glaring daggers at her. His nostrils flared, and his fists were clenched by his sides. Just who did this American witch think she was exactly? Vaguely, he noted that the witch's eyes were a dark cerulean blue. However, he pushed past that a moment later, concentrating on her mannerisms that she tried to hide. Brushing at her robes nervously at wrinkles that weren't there. Trying hard to hold back her fiery temper. Cocking her head to the side as she studied him. Once he had reached sixty, he whirled back to McGonagall.

"Is there anything else you'd like, Headmistress?" he asked through clenched teeth.

McGonagall sighed heavily, and Severus took that to mean he could leave. He stalked to the door without another word, his black robes flapping wildly behind him.

"Well, that went well," a voice quietly remarked behind him, as he slammed the door shut.

In whose world did that go well? He should never have come back this year.

The second he turned the corner near his rooms in the dungeons, he noticed that Salazar swung his portrait open for him. It was as if the portrait knew just how angry he was. He scoffed in response, walking through before throwing his arm back to slam the portrait shut again. How dare that witch—no—witches do that! Who the hell did they think they were? Honestly!

"So, how'd that go, son?" his dad asked with a wide grin that fell the moment he saw Severus.

"About as well as baptizing a cat," Severus spat, balling up his outer robes before tossing them angrily across the room. "I quit! This damn castle can crumble to ash and dust for all I care." He didn't even wait to hear his father's reply. Instead, he continued to his bedroom. Everyone else be damned. He was after all.

She wasn't there. No, in her stead was that mouthy, dark-haired American witch. What the hell did that witch know about his life anyway? She didn't know a damn thing.

None of them knew the sacrifices he had made for all of them. None of them did.


	2. Ugly Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of a slow start, I know, but I have to set everything up just right. :0) Hope you enjoy.

Frowning after watching his son storm out of the room, Tobias walked over to pick up his son's robes that Severus angrily had thrown earlier. The soft fabric brushed gently against his fingertips, and he grabbed them from the cold floor. He had seen several levels of frustration from his son since coming back into Severus's life, but this was something much more than just the usual 'Dunderhead' contempt. Sighing quietly, he headed to the coat rack, stopping the moment he heard something hit the floor.

Tobias paused and glance down, his blue eyes narrowing on the yellowed folded-up piece of paper. He glanced back to his son's room before he bent down and retrieved it. Normally, he'd have not invaded his son's privacy, but it was strange to see a note folded like that. Everyone at Hogwarts that Tobias had ever encountered rolled things, not folded them. It reminded him of notes passed in class.

Slowly, he unfolded the piece of paper and skimmed the first lines.

_Since it will no longer matter soon after I succeed, let me tell you my story, Severus. We share the same childhood experiences. Marauders. Roger. Death Eaters. To name a few. Our paths divert now, however, from Lily's death, thanks to me._

_Reaching out blindly, Tobias grabbed for the nearest thing to keep himself upright. Since it'd no longer matter? What in God's green earth did that mean? And share the same childhood experiences? Tobias's blue eyes narrowed even more, his lips pursing._

_For me, I never truly moved on from losing her until I was thirty-eight. That coward murdered them with their only son surviving and forced to live with his maternal aunt in a household where he would be treated worse than a house elf. I swore to Dumbledore I would protect the brat, watch over him in secret. And I did that. For seven long years. The moment I saw those eyes and that face, though, anger and bitterness took over inside me. I hated him for surviving when Lily did not. I loathed that she had given her life for him and not chosen me. And as such, I treated the boy unfairly._

_His heart sank as he realized that these were his son's words. Or rather another version of his son. One who had been hurt badly. Who needed someone to care for him, to love him. Tobias's callused fingers traced his son's handwriting, as if to let the author know that he was there._

_I told myself I had to, though, in order to protect him properly. But it was a lie. I did it because I could. Because I wanted him to feel the pain I felt whenever I looked at him. So, he suffered my unjust treatment of him for seven years, always believing I was trying to kill him instead of knowing the truth._

_Truth? What truth was that? Tobias needed to know more, so he read on._

_It wasn't until he looked down on me with kindness as I lay dying in the Shrieking Shack that I saw him for the first time. He wasn't James, bent on making my life hell. Nor was he Lily. I had made his life hell, yet he still offered me kindness. He needed to know the truth, so I gave it to him freely. I showed him how Dumbledore had allowed him to live until it was time the boy would have to sacrifice himself for the rest of us. I showed him the missing pieces of his parents' story, and then nothing as the darkness took over. I thought I had failed in protecting him. But I hadn't. He succeeded ultimately, at great cost to himself unfortunately._

_"As I lay dyin' in the Shriekin' Shack," Tobias mouthed, his eyes closing as he tried to push away all the emotions that swirled about now. Drawing in a deep breath, he reopened his eyes. No. His son was alive. Very much alive. He glanced towards his son's partially closed door. They weren't the same person anymore. This Severus and his Severus. His Severus, he had love around him every moment, every single day now._

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. It was clear that great cost came to Severus as well as the other boy he had saved in this letter. If only he had . . .

_The fates sent me back after his success. My story wasn't over, it had said. And it was right. The boy helped me move on, to see that I was worth something. He even, without him knowing it, helped me see my wife actually as something more than a mere coworker._

_"Wife?" Tobias murmured. His son had married? He couldn't keep the proud grin from finding its way to his face. Good for him. He then scratched his head and focused on the last word. Coworker. So, his son had married a coworker? Well, it couldn't be any of the old biddies he worked with now. They were old enough to be El's age or older. And he was quite sure that his son didn't like cougars._

_Now, I know you are likely still wondering who she is. Driven mad perhaps even by my not revealing it yet. There is a reason, however, I have not done so. And that reason simply is that I wish you to fall in love with her as I have. Not love her because I loved her. As quite frankly, that would take the fun and surprise out of everything actually._

_"Good boy," Tobias mouthed. His son had been paying attention to the old sci-fi telly shows they used to watch together when things were better, easier._

_But, as you well know, I am not always one to leave things to chance either, especially not with our luck. So, let me tell you a bit about my wife before the end arrives and I am gone from this world._

_He drew in a sharp breath and shook his head. No. His son was very much alive. But this Severus . . . how he would give anything to tell his boy that everything would be all right. Just one more time._

_She has always stood by my side, even when I did not know it. She has defended me fiercely over the years, choosing me over her family at times in fact. And she loves me with all her heart, which I assure you is quite extensive. She is not above letting me have it, though, when I am being a prat. However, she forgives me eventually, as she is a keen believer in redemption and second chances. But above all else, she accepts all of me, the good and the bad. She has never tried to change me, as she claims it would be a futile attempt since I am as stubborn as a jackass. She was the only one to congratulate me when I received the Defense against the Dark Arts position, informing the others that they were idiots for assuming I would then attempt to kill them all. She was the one who later found my father and brought him to my hospital bed, so that I would have the chance to speak with him and not regret it all my life. She also was the one who helped him receive a pardon from the Minister of Magic, as she has a history with the Minister._

_She is the light to our darkness. And she has always been with us. If you do not believe me, then consider the card she sent you this Christmas. The only one we both know you've received. Or the birthday well wishes we've always passed off as coming from some deluded young witch who had to have felt sorry for us or at the very least obligated to use us as her one good deed a day._

Christmas card? Severus had said that . . . Tobias read on.

_I don't tell you this so you'll marry her tomorrow. Not at all. I want you to fall in love with her as I did. To experience the awkwardness of a first date. The sweetness of a kiss. The butterflies deep within the stomach. Everything we did not get with our first love. The wait I promise is worth it._

_But as I sit here now waiting for the end, self doubt is taking over. I've changed a great deal of things. You, your son, Tobias, Dumbledore, Minerva, our hated enemy Black, and the list goes on. I worry now that perhaps I've changed something that will take her away from you. That she will not return. So, that is why I've told you what I have. To, as the Muggles put it, place the ball in your court, so to speak. When you are ready, Severus._

His breath caught in the back of his throat. The future had changed. His son, or a version of his son, had changed it. Licking his lips slowly, he carefully folded the letter back up and put it back in his son's outer robes. A part of him wanted to run into his son's rooms and hold him, but that boy, that poor young man, in that letter wasn't his son. Not anymore. Love was healing the wounds that didn't heal for the other Severus.

He needed to tell El. Let her know what had happened. But he knew what his wife's reaction would be. She hated time travel and everything with it. Claimed it only led to intense migraines from all the implications, all the variables, all the possibilities. No. He'd keep El far from that.

But now he knew the truth about little Harrison, the grandson that wasn't really his grandson. It didn't take a rocket scientist to realize that the little boy was actually Lily's son, the boy who died. Running a hand through his shaggy hair, Tobias sighed. If anyone ever learned. . . impossible. He wouldn't let them find out. And if they did, he'd do anything to protect his family. Harrison, sweet little Harrison, his life was better now too thanks to his son's interference. All their lives had become better.

Heading to his grandson's room, he glanced in and saw the boy fast asleep. The truth would only harm. Only destroy the happiness and love that they needed. He gently closed the door behind him and headed to his son's room.

A part of him thought about knocking on the door, but Severus had left the door partially open. Tobias nudged it open just a bit more and poked his head inside. When he heard his son's soft snores, he smiled faintly and sighed silently. It would be better this time. For all of them. He left soon after.

* * *

It felt like he had been walking for hours now in order to clear his head, but he knew it had only been an hour or two at most. No matter what Tobias tried, he just couldn't get that letter out of his mind. Sighing, he shook his head, sticking a hand back into his pocket.

It was no wonder why his son was so angry earlier. His whole life had been turned upside down with a confession of heartbreak, of the truth. Though, Tobias supposed if he looked back on it, there were other signs. Severus had dressed up more before he went to his meeting. He rarely if ever wore his teaching robes around the castle for the hell of it actually. Was that his son's way of dressing to impress for this mysterious future wife? Well, he'd give his boy some credit. Severus did look good in them.

He turned the bend near his son's classroom then. BAM!

"Shit!" someone, a young lady on second glance, exclaimed as she fell backwards onto her backside, her hands trying to brace for her fall.

"Bless ya," Tobias called out, a grin on his face. Now, she wasn't old. Was this his son's future wife? She was young, yeah, but young was good. He then chuckled quietly and stepped towards her. "Ya all right there, lass?" he asked, leaning forward to hold out a hand to her.

She stared at his offered hand for a moment before following the outstretched arm to its owner. "Oh, thank the Gods, you're not him." She sighed in utter relief before grasping his hand and allowing him to pull her to her feet. She brushed off her skirt before she smiled nervously at him. "I am fine, thank you." She then lowered her voice slightly. "I'm clumsier than a newborn deer on a frozen lake sometimes." She offered him an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I ran into you. I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going. Clearly."

Tobias snorted and raised his brow. "Is that so?" His brows then furrowed as her words echoed in his head. "Wait. Lass, who'd you think I was?"

The young woman shrugged. "The tall, lanky potions professor who could use a lesson, or five, in manners." She snorted quietly before the words tumbled out of her mouth. "I ticked him off at the staff meeting earlier by calling him a petulant child, and he blew up at me. If the Headmistress wasn't there, I'd have told him he needed to pull that stick out of his ass, so I could smack him with it for making fun of my being American."

"Ah." Tobias rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "That'd be my boy all right. Don't pay attention to him, though. He's just cranky 'cause my two-year-old grandson is keepin' him up late, and he ain't used to that yet." He smiled at her. "Name's Tobias Snape. And you are?"

The color once again filled in her cheeks as she realized she basically just told this man his son was an ass. Nervously, she ran her hands over her skirt before holding out a hand a moment later to him. "Demetri Le Fay. New Astronomy professor who needs a filter between her brain and her mouth."

Tobias shook her hand instantly with a soft chuckle. "No worries, lass. His mum's told him the same thing, truth be told." His blue eyes then narrowed on her. "New Astronomy professor?"

"Yes, sir." She smiled and nodded. "My father always said my head was in the clouds, so I figured I'd make a career out of it. "

"Well, ain't that somethin'." Tobias shook his head with another chuckle. "Other than my boy bein' his usual charmin' self, how's your first day goin'?"

"If I could do it all over, I would." She sighed. "After the disastrous staff meeting, I was royally told off by my great-great-grandmother's portrait for being a disgrace to the family name...again. Then I forgot to latch my door, and my cat has decided to be my personal tour guide of the castle. So," she shrugged "here we are."

"In other words, ya need a drink," Tobias chuckled with a shrug.

"I think I need two," she admitted with a snort.

"Your cat like anythin'? Milk or stuff?"

She seemed to think for a moment before she replied. "Merlin likes when I put a sugar cube in his milk. I think he believes it's Absinthe, since he sees me drink it that way."

A sharp whistle left his lips before he had a chance to stop himself. "Absinthe? Well, aren't ya a feisty little witch?" He shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck. "Even on my worst of days, I couldn't touch the stuff. But a sugar cube, now pretty sure the elves got that somewhere around here."

"Feisty is my middle name," she joked before she adopted a more serious tone. "Absinthe isn't that bad considering the foul tasting Firewhiskey all of you drink here."

"Firewhiskey? Huh. " He shrugged. "Wouldn't know it." He then forced a polite smile to her. He truly didn't know of it. He had heard of it of course and seen his son nurse a drink or two, but he kept to his long-ago promise to himself.

Demetri then sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping slightly. "Why didn't I think of calling an elf to chase that damn cat?"

"Elves save the world daily, ya know?" Tobias teased. "They don't get a lot of credit, but . . . those things really are handy in times like these."

"I'm still getting used to them being here actually." There was something about him that just made her want to talk. "I never grew up with a household elf as only the richest families had them." She shrugged. "Even my Boarding school only employed them on special occasions, which was few and far between really."

"Shit, lass. I only been around them since last Fall or so." As if that explained everything. "Before that I was under house arrest and—well, that's a story for another time. Let's go find yer cat."

"Are you sure? I don't want to inconvenience you," Demetri asked.

"Nah. It's fine. I don't have much else to do seein' as how my son and grandson are both sleepin' finally. So, what's this cat look like exactly? Like Mrs. Norris, a bit bitchy and clearly wantin' ya dead or more like McGonagall, sweet but deadly?"

"He's nothing like that thing Filch calls a cat." Demetri stopped short, gawking at the older man. "Wait. The headmistress is a cat . . . like an Animagus? Huh. Interesting. My great-great-grandmother Morgana was a bird Animagus actually."

"Yeah, everyone around here is somethin', ain't they?" Tobias said quietly.

"Merlin is all black with gold eyes," she stated a second later. "And I swear he's a reincarnated teenage boy because he listens just as well as some of the boys I went to school with."

Tobias snorted. "All right then." He called for a house elf, smiling at it when it popped in. "Two sugar cubes with a bowl of milk, please."

Demetri jumped when the creature popped in. "Sorry." Her voice was low, and her eyes remained downcast as if she had just been told of by a superior.

The house elf popped in the bowl of milk with two sugar cubes a moment later before it popped away again. Tobias said nothing when he noticed the young witch's jump. He himself had jumped like that more than a few times while being in this castle. So, who was he to say anything? Moving further down the hallway, he slowly set them down a moment later. "Now we wait..."

Leaning against the wall, Demetri watched Tobias. The man was interesting to her clearly and one of the only people to have given her the time of day in the short time she'd been in residence at the castle. Besides a nod or a smile from various coworkers, no one had gone out of their way actually to acknowledge her. She could chalk it up to being days before students arrived and the normal beginning of school chaos, but still. She wondered if she'd see more of the man or get a chance to talk to him again, when a faint jingling sound pulled her from her thoughts. She smiled, thanking the Gods she had thought of putting a bell on Merlin's collar before coming to Hogwarts.

Tobias jerked his head to the cat who was heading towards them. "Just call me Tobias Snape: World Class Cat Finder." He grinned. "Well, now that the cat's been found, you gonna be all right there?" He watched her and sighed inwardly. She needed a friend or two. She just had that air about her that screamed that she felt alone. And having lived alone for so long under house arrest, Tobias knew how damaging that feeling was to a person.

"I'll be sure to call on your services again and tell a few friends with wayward felines." Demetri laughed as she bent down to scoop up her cat. "You, Mister, are lucky Tobias helped me find you," she said addressing the sulking kitty, "before Filch did, or worse, the Potions professor." She winked at Tobias before smiling. "I can find my way back, hopefully. Thank you again for the help and the friendly conversation."

"Anytime, lass." Tobias smiled at the duo before he headed back to his rooms. She'd do for a daughter-in-law. Now if only his son were ready for such things...

* * *

It was late evening when Severus finally joined the land of the living again. Tobias had already fed Harrison and himself supper and put the little tyke back to bed after giving him a bath. His blue eyes glanced up when he heard the footsteps that murdered the silence, and he folded the _Evening Prophet_ again and watched his twenty-two-year-old son stumble into the room with full-on bedhead.

"Well I'll be, ya are alive," Tobias joked.

His son grumbled something too low for him to hear and headed for the already brewed tea.

"So . . ." He smiled faintly at his son when Severus returned a frown. " _Prophet_ is goin' on about another raid. Some Nott git was arrested this time. Ya given any thought to my offer?" He shouldn't have started with this, but he couldn't just go on the offensive quite yet.

"We're fine, Dad."

"Yeah, as long as ya stay in the castle, but that ain't a life, son."

"It's fine," Severus replied evenly, clearly annoyed.

"All it takes is one—"

"I said that it's fine."

"And what about these deaths, yeah? The ones who are found strung up, Severus?"

"There's no place safer than Hogwarts, Dad."

"Yeah, then why'd you hate this place so much after a while?" He hit a nerve. He could tell by the way his son's shoulders hunched up as if he was ready to tackle and beat him. "I'm just askin' that ya consider it. That's all. I'm—shit, son, I don't want to lose either of ya."

Severus scoffed before he took a big swig from his tea. A moment later, he turned his back to Tobias and rinsed out his cup. The older father couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. He needed the boy to know that he knew the truth. That he could confide in his father. That he wasn't alone.

"When were ya gonna tell me, son?"

"What?"

"The truth about Harrison," Tobias answered, folding his hands together.

"What are you going on about?" Severus seemed to be genuinely confused.

"That he ain't yers." He held a hand up when his son opened his mouth to argue. "Don't waste yer breath. I get why he's with ya. Just, ya know, it'd have been nice to have known that ya trusted me, Severus. At least a little bit."

"You're mad, old man!"

"Nah. What's mad is that ya still have the letter in yer pocket instead of burnin' it or somethin'. First thing after a kidnappin' or any rule breakin' is to get rid of all incriminatin' evidence, Severus. It lessens the charges that can be applied."

"Oh, forgive me, Dad, for not being the criminal mastermind you are."

"That's not what I'm sayin', and ya damn well know it. Yer keepin' it 'cause it tells ya about yer future wife, right?" He noticed his son's look of surprise instantly. "Met her earlier by the way. She's a bit rough around the edges, yeah, but she's good, son."

"You met . . ." His dark eyes darted to the door. "When was she in the castle?"

"She lives here, son. Remember?"

"What?" Severus frowned before he shook his head. "You met Sinistra?"

"Who?" Tobias asked, his head pulling back slightly. "Nah. I met Demetri, the new Astronomy professor. Your _coworker_." It was his turn to frown when he watched his son rear back as if he had been slapped. "What?"

"I didn't marry _her_!"

"Well, not to split hairs, but you ain't married to anyone yet, son."

"Yeah, but not _her_!"

"What's wrong with Demetri?"

"Nothing. Except she's annoying, mouthy, and rude, and American—"

"Same could be said about you, except the American part. And, come on, Severus. Ya only just met her. Give her a chance."

"She hasn't _always_ been in my life, Dad!"

"So? This Sin-lady ain't exactly in yer life right now either, is she?" He watched his son's eyes flash dangerously and realized why his son had become so angry earlier. "She was supposed to be here tonight, wasn't she? This lady yer supposed to be with?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Judgin' by the tantrum yer throwin', it clearly does."

"I'm not throwing a tantrum!"

"Says the man yellin' like a madman," Tobias pointed out, crossing his arms.

"Fine. You know what? You're right, Dad! I am angry. I'm damn angry! She was supposed to be here! And she's not! Instead, there's some witch who—I don't even know how to describe her—it wasn't supposed to be like this."

"No. It wasn't. Yer future self made sure of that."

"So, what then? You want to go back to house arrest? The boy grow up in a household that hates him? Mum return to captivity? Is that what you want?"

"No, and ya damn well know that. I'm just sayin' that—Christ, son, ya did watch those shows with me. Ya know how this ends. All it takes is one moment, a butterfly dyin' over in Japan for all we know, and time all unravels into chaos."

"Those aren't real, Dad! They're just fictional shows on the telly."

"Yeah, and to a billion people out there, magic ain't real either. And we both know that's bull."

"I'm going out!" snarled Severus, slamming his cup down into the sink before he headed for the door. Everything about him screamed his anger.

"Son," Tobias started to say.

The portrait of Salazar, though, slammed shut behind Severus.

Tobias sighed heavily. He wasn't saying that he'd tell the authorities about Harrison, because he wouldn't give the boy up no matter what now. He had fallen in love with his grandson. But it is always dangerous to mess with time. Everyone knows that. There are always consequences, and he shuddered to think what those would be this time.


	3. Timely Mysteries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, enjoy.

He didn't even know where he was going. Just that he was going far away from his dad. That was all that mattered currently. How dare Tobias lecture him like that? The man didn't know anything. He didn't know the sacrifices that had been made for them. The pain the other Severus had felt. _He_ had felt. Sure, it seemed Tobias had read the letter now, but he didn't know like Severus himself knew.

Idly, he heard the leaves crinkle underneath his feet. He must have left the castle already. Everything was a blur now. All that remained was his anger. His anger and bitterness at the world at large were eating away at his hope once more. How dare his father threaten him!

Deep down, he knew his dad would never alert the Aurors. But the fear taunted him inside. All it took was one word, one false step, and the world he knew now would come crumbling down. All hope, all happiness, everything would just vanish. The darkness would set in again, suffocate him, just as it had done before.

Severus had just started to become comfortable again with his life. To be happy. Didn't his father see that? Didn't he know it? How could he threaten him like that?

As he continued down the steep hill, he noticed in the distance the smoke billowing up from Hagrid's hut's chimney. For a brief moment, he considered visiting the friendly half-giant before he turned away sharply. No amount of rock cakes in the world would fix this.

Clenching his hands and unclenching them at his sides, Severus continued his angry stomp across the grounds. Nothing about this day had been good. Not a damn thing!

Except Harrison. His time with the little brat had been good. He was enjoying the hugs the boy would give. The little flashes of Lily that came through every now and then in the boy's personality. It was as if his former best friend—the one who hadn't abandoned him and left him to the darkness—was still there with him.

Yet she had ultimately left him there to rot, as if he didn't matter. She chose James Potter, a toerag she had called him on numerous occasions. He supposed he shouldn't still be upset with her any longer for not choosing him. She had been happy with James in the end, and deep down that was all Severus really wanted for her. Even though, that was truly ridiculous to even care for considering all that occurred between the ex-friends.

Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his long, oily hair. He grabbed a bit of it and tugged hard. The pain yanked him back from those thoughts. She chose her way, and he had chosen his. There was nothing more to say.

With a wave of his hand, he non-verbally opened the tall, formidable wrought iron gates guarded by two winged boars. He crossed the threshold a moment later and felt the brief flicker of cold from the ancient wards pass over him. He was finally free of that damned castle and its magic.

Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. All the scents of fall invaded his nostrils at once. All that was missing was some pumpkins spice concoction really. The crisp air went deep into his lungs. He sighed heavily and reopened his eyes. As wonderful as it was, it wasn't where he knew he needed to be. It still was too close to the castle for comfort. A break was what he needed.

So, he rapidly turned on his heels, his mind focusing on the bustling streets of London. He felt the familiar sensation a second later before he vanished in a flurry of black.

Reappearing moments later, he found himself in a vacant alleyway near St. Mungo's. He considered drawing his wand to conjure a cloak for himself, but decided against it. There was nothing wrong with his dark slacks and black button-down shirt. Other than the fact that they were horribly wrinkled since he had slept in them, he supposed. Snorting, he realized then that he had thankfully had enough foresight to have put on his boots before he had joined his father earlier in his sitting room. Otherwise, this journey would have been quite different.

Severus quickly moved down the alleyway and turned the corner a moment later. When he saw the rundown Muggle department store Purge and Dowse Ltd in front of him, he felt the familiar tug at the corner of his mouth. It was mad what he was about to do, he knew, but he needed to know. And this was the only place he knew of that could get him those answers.

Walking up to the window where a dummy stood guard, he murmured a moment later, "Healer Sinistra, please." The dummy's head cocked to the side for a moment and stared back at him, as if it was confused by his request. "I need to speak with Healer Sinistra," he repeated. Still, the window didn't shimmer into the entrance as it should have. "Narcissa Malfoy then." At that, the dummy reacted and beckoned him forward before the entrance shimmered into existence. He passed through a moment later with a frown. Why hadn't it recognized Syra's name?

"Severus?" Narcissa's soft voice whispered soon after. She quickly moved away from the wizard with five hands who she had been assisting in the waiting room and headed to him before she grabbed ahold of his elbow. "Come with me." Her tone had quickly changed from friendly to business-like.

Once they were alone in a vacant room and the door was closed behind them, he watched her cross her arms. She clearly was in no mood tonight.

"What on Earth are you doing here?" she asked.

"A pleasure to see you as well, Narcissa," he drawled, forcing the polite smile to his face. Why was she angry with him already? He didn't do anything!

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Severus." She then tapped her finger against her crossed arm. "What are you doing here?"

"I was wishing to speak with Syra." He noticed the quick flicker of something on her face and stepped towards her. He was missing something obviously. "What? What is it?"

"She retired, Severus. Not long after she had spoken with you and your father actually after your mother was found."

"What?"

"So, forgive me for not being all cheerful with you tonight."

"Why did she retire?"

"As if I know. I was under the impression you'd know actually considering she put in her papers not long after leaving you two that day. We've been short staffed ever since, and the idiots that are here currently don't know a healing spell from a curse."

"Did she leave a forwarding address?" he asked, his mind reeling with this new info.

"A forwarding address? Severus, honestly, the woman was a pain in the arse. A damn good healer mind you, but a pain in the arse." Her eyes then narrowed into slits. "Why do you want to speak with her anyway?"

He sighed heavily and shrugged. Narcissa was many things. And trustworthy was one of them. But in the end, she still was the wife of a Death Eater. He couldn't risk it. "My son. He's having trouble . . . adjusting, I believe. I wondered if she had any tips." He watched her face soften.

"You realize that I'm a mother of a young child as well, Severus, yes?" She then laughed quietly. "What symptoms is he exhibiting?"

"He's cranky all the time. And he's very . . . clingy."

"It's a phase, Severus. Trust me. Little Draco sobs every time I have to leave the manor. Don't give in to him, though. Show him that you're still there, but be firm with him. It'll help later."

"I see. There's nothing more I can do?"

"Short of obliviating him every time you leave, no. It's perfectly natural for your son to be having difficulty adjusting. He's used to you always being there with him, but with the upcoming term . . . he needs to learn that everything will be fine. He'll grow out of it."

The young father forced another polite smile and inclined his head to her. "Thank you."

"Of course. Was there anything else?"

He shook his head. "No. That was all. I shall return to the castle."

"Don't take the long way there, Severus, all right? Not with the current climate out there being as it is." His eyes narrowed on her. "You've certainly read the stories as well as I have. I would hate to hear that something happened to you, my friend."

If it had been said by anyone else, he might have drawn his wand. As it was, he only inclined his head to her before he left. His mind still swam with thoughts. Why had Syra left so suddenly after their visit this past spring? Was there something else in that file she had given his father? Something that she may have omitted perhaps? Syra had stated at the time that copy she had given his father was the only one. He had wondered then why she only made that copy, but he had forgotten about it after seeing his mother later looking as if Death had greeted her.

He brushed past the injured witches and wizards without a word or even a glance at them. He had thought for certain he'd get his answers from her. At least the one of where he could find Syra's daughter. Not that it really mattered, he supposed, as he was only wanting to be friends with her.

It was strange. Every time he tried to recall a meeting with Aurora, he couldn't remember it fully. Only bits and pieces could he recall. Oh, but he could remember every conversation he had ever had with Lily, though. That was easy. The heartbreak, the tears, the laughter, the smiles, the loneliness.

He knew from rereading some of his journals from his youth, that he had tutored Aurora on at least one occasion in potions. And it had been disastrous. A number nine caldron had been completely obliterated along with numerous ingredients he had bought. But he couldn't recall the actual memory of it. In fact, the only thing about that day he could recall was Lily walking out of the lavatory with a split lip on the fourth floor after Charms. Had Evans really been that memorable to him, that spellbinding? In hindsight, he knew the answer was no. But at the time . . . obsession did that to a person, though.

Sighing, he shook his head, sticking his hands into his pockets. He'd have to make sure that didn't happen again. If he ever fell in love, that was. Oh, whom was he kidding really? His dad was right. He was throwing a right tantrum all because she wasn't there. But he didn't know her. Not really.

He knew that she had gone to Hogwarts with him. A year behind him actually. She was a Slytherin. After leaving Hogwarts, she went to university. She loved Astronomy. And her mum had been a healer. That was all he knew about her. Purely biographical. And yet a part of him cared for her. Or rather cared for the feeling he had someone out there who would accept him, embrace him without trying to change him. That sounded good to him at least. Better than it ever had been with Evans.

On second thought, maybe he'd head over to Diagon Alley. He did need some frog tails and cockatrice feathers after all. Though, even he knew it was a poor distraction. When he'd be alone later, he knew he'd be focusing once more on the fact that she wasn't there again. That he was alone.

This wonderful witch his future self had risked everything for, his life and freedom. It was all so they could have just a few more moments together. That and so Harry and everyone could have better lives. But he wasn't going to lie to himself as his future self had. It wasn't just so the brat would have a better life. It was part of it, certainly, but it was also for him. The ultimate selfish act.

And what was wrong with being selfish every now and then anyway? Life hadn't been fair to him at all. He might as well get a piece of the pie so to speak. He deserved it. Didn't he?

* * *

Nearly twenty minutes later, he had walked through the hidden entrance to Diagon Alley. The street seemed unusually quiet, but he brushed off his gut feeling. Everything was fine. It had to be. The Dark Lord was no more. They had entered a state of peace. One where former Death Eaters were either hung or imprisoned for their supposed crimes, but peace nonetheless. A future where he didn't have to look over his shoulder anymore or lie or be enslaved to two masters of darkness and manipulation.

When he found both apothecaries in Diagon Alley closed, he stopped and briefly considered returning to Hogwarts. That feeling he had dismissed earlier roared to life. Blinking, he glanced around. Almost all shops were boarded up and closed, he noticed. If he hadn't been forced to meet the staff with McGonagall's foolish exercise, he'd have thought for certain that it was the start of the holidays, not the end. What was going on?

He turned around and noticed two Aurors headed in his direction then. Vaguely, he noticed their wands drawn, which didn't make sense. He had been absolved of any crimes he might have committed while in the ranks of the Death Eaters. He had no reason to worry then.

"Professor Snape," one of the Aurors drawled with a wide grin. "How _grand_ it is to come across you here in the middle of Diagon Alley on today of all days."

Severus's gut sent more warnings. No. There was something seriously wrong with this whole situation. The way that Auror had said it . . .

"I'm afraid I don't follow," Severus replied, his eyes darting to both Aurors. When he caught one of the men's eyes swiftly glancing behind him then, the young man whirled around, his wand easily sliding into his hand. However, he was too late. The jet of light struck him hard in the ribs, sending him flying back against a nearby wall. He coughed and pushed himself up from the unforgiving cobblestone. What was going on?

When he saw another jet of light, he threw up a hand and cast a quick protective spell. He was thankful when it bounced off his shield and flew back to the caster. Well, if they wanted a fight, he'd give them one then. He had enough of two—no make that—four against one in his life.

"Grab him!" one of the men shouted.

Severus scrambled to his feet at once. No. He would be damned if they would capture him! He tossed spell after spell, curse after curse, guiding the men back from him with meticulous casting. He had them almost far enough back from him that he could Disapparate from the alley.

"Enough of this!" a man to his left snarled before he slashed his wand violently towards him. "End him! Now!"

Ducking before then rolling to his right, Severus moved away. He didn't know if it was a curse or hex or what the man was going to be throwing at him, but he knew enough to know he didn't want to be hit with whatever it was. He then saw a vial of grey smoke sail through the air. His eyes narrowed on it before he flicked his wand at it, sending the vial smashing against the wall. He turned back, his wand at the ready in case they threw more vials at him.

When he saw a fist flying towards him, he stepped backwards and ducked, his right hand going back against the brick wall to steady himself. Almost instantly afterwards, he felt his vision start to blur. He blinked a few times and shook his head. What was going on? He moved his hand from the wall and glanced at it, noticing a thick film on it.

"Let's see you do magic now, Traitor!" one of the men shouted gleefully.

Severus's eyes narrowed in confusion. What were they talking about? He then saw the four balls of curses headed his way. He threw up a hand, non-verbally casting a protective shield. However, the four jets tore through the air and slammed into him hard. What? Why didn't that work, he wondered. He gripped his wand tighter and slashed it towards them. Every bit of him radiated with his anger, all that he needed for his trademark curse. Nothing happened, though.

When another hex hit him, he slammed back against the wall before he fell onto the cold cobblestone with a loud groan. Why wasn't his magic working anymore?

Someone's boot then slammed hard against the side of his face. Coughing, he tried to hold back his cries of pain. So weak he had become. More boots then slammed into his sides, causing him to squirm and fold in on himself. It was just as it had been during the Marauder's era. Him, utterly alone, attacked by cowards.

He then felt someone yank him up to his feet.

"Like that do you?" the man sneered, his face mere inches from Severus's. "Thank your pathetic Order for it. They created it."

What? The Order was responsible? Nothing made sense anymore. Whatever had occurred during his short time in the Dark Lord's ranks had been wiped away. He was free of that. Why would the Aurors, these Aurors, be attacking him? He had changed sides long before the Dark Lord's defeat.

"Come on, Roderick. Let's kill him already."

"No. Not yet, idiot." The man named Roderick then scoffed before he tossed Severus away from him. "I'm not finished with him yet."

"On the contrary, arseholes, you are _quite_ finished!" a voice snarled suddenly.

Severus lifted his head up as much as he could to glance towards where he had heard the voice. His vision was horribly blurred, though. Who was there?

"Get—" Roderick started to say before he went abruptly silent.

A thump then drew Severus's attention. He winced and groaned silent before he turned his head. His eyes widened as he caught the lifeless body slam down onto cobblestone near him. One of his attackers, he recognized.

"You bitch!" another of his attackers screamed.

A flash of light, and then the man was no longer there. A crack echoed in the deafening silence of the night. Two more cracks then filled the air followed by screams and silence.

Coughing some more, Severus gripped his wand a bit tighter before. Not that it would do any good obviously. He drew in a shaky and raspy breath as he heard someone approach. Blinking, he tried to squint upwards to make out who the figure was. Only shadows stared back at him.

"Who . . . who are you?" When a gentle hand caressed his cheek, he closed his eyes and gasped for air. There was something familiar, yet not about that touch.

"Oh, Severus, what am I going to do with you?" a voice said with a sigh before the hand was removed. "Come on. Focus on me. Just for a bit, please?" The hand then tapped against his cheek.

He tried to comply, wanting to know who the friendly was. It was too difficult, though. So much pain was surging in him. It took him a moment then to realize that a hand was rifling through his pocket in his slacks. He snatched ahold of the slender wrist instantly.

"I'm trying to reach your potions, so knock it off unless you want to keep suffering, git!"

Reach his potions? He hadn't kept vials in his pockets since his early Hogwarts' years. He then blinked as a thought occurred to him. He loosened his grip a bit, but still held on.

"Sinistra?"

"Who else would it be?" the voice replied with an amused snort. "Now, where the hell are your potions? You always have them on you."

"My robes," he murmured before a groan left his lips.

"You're not wearing—oh. Well, who's being a dunderhead now? Honestly." He could hear her disapproval clear as day. "What the hell were you doing here anyway? It's not safe for you."

He swallowed, tasting more of his blood. "Why?" It was all he could ask right now. There were so many questions that needed answers, but that one was the most needed to be answered.

"What do you mean, 'Why?' It's not like the war stopped just because the Dark Lord did. Not to mention, someone—not to name names—had to go about and mess with time."

She knew? How?

"Oh don't even start with me, Severus Snape. This has your name written all over it." Her voice then lowered. "It won't bring Evans back. You can't bring back the dead like that. Do you understand? Messing with time as you did . . . it has serious consequences. Like when you forget to stir a potion a certain way sometimes. It's volatile. And . . . I get what you were doing. I sympathize. I truly do, Severus, but it won't work. It can't. And if you think the Ministry hasn't noticed by now, well, I assure you that you're going to be in for a rude awakening soon. Because they have."

"How?" he groaned, trying to focus on her.

"How, what? How did I notice you decided to throw out every single rule in the book and mess with time? Please. That part was easy. What with that piece of paper you sent me last spring. I'd recognize that messy cursive anywhere. Or did you mean how does the Ministry know?" She scoffed. "Because—oh I don't know—they only have a freaking Department of Mystery room that studies time! Time that you've started to unravel with your foolishness."

Piece of paper he sent? He hadn't sent her anything. He then blinked a few more times, trying to blink back the fuzziness. If he hadn't sent it to her, that meant his future self had. Did she know then that his future self had married her? No. She didn't seem to be head-over-heels in love with him on second glance. She wasn't even touching him as much as he had expected her to do if she did know. She was entirely business-like. Like Narcissa had been. Like . . .

"The last time something like this happened was back in the late 1890s and caused Thursday to be only four hours long," she stated. "Course you wouldn't know that because you found Astronomy and all its related subjects to be inferior to that of your precious Potions."

It was like she was mad at him for something, but he couldn't understand what she was going on about currently. Other than the fact that she had received a note from his future self that she thought he had sent to her. He groaned and pressed his hand against his head. The pain was getting worse.

"I'd take you to St. Mungo's if I could," she said with a sigh a moment later, "but you'd likely run into more of those arseholes. And I'm really not supposed to be here right now. If—here. Drink this." She brought a vial to his lips. When he moved away, she clenched her teeth and glared at him. "Severus, for the love of Circe, drink the damn stuff or I'll shove it down your throat, you stubborn arse. It'll help with the pain and . . . just drink it!"

"What is it?"

"Why must you question everything?" she scoffed. "It's some sort of analgesic mixed with something to bring back your magic since they drugged you earlier. I don't know. Mum made it at Dumbledore's request. Now, drink it before it can't work anymore. Unless you want to be without your magic the rest of your life?"

"I don't understand."

"Obviously. Now, just trust me and drink it."

"How do you—"

"Severus, trust me! I mean, Circe, do you honestly believe—" Her eyes then darted away as she turned to look at something. "Time up," she said quietly before she turned back with a sad frown. "I'm sorry, but I have to." She then moved her hand to rest against his chest. The moment he felt her hand, he felt his body contract before the darkness surrounded him. His vision started to tunnel. "Stay at Hogwarts, Severus. Stay with your son. Please? Or I'll give Dem permission to hex your arse worse than Black and Potter ever did."

When he felt her kiss his forehead, he tightened his grip on her wrist. No. She couldn't leave. Not yet. Not when he didn't know what the hell was going on.

"Forgive me."

* * *

"How is he? Is he conscious yet? What happened? I don't understand."

Severus groaned as the questions echoed around him. His head lulled to the side as he slowly woke up. Inhaling deeply, he smelled the familiar antiseptic scent of Hogwarts's hospital wing. She had taken him to Hogwarts? He groaned and coughed as he felt a brief flicker of pain.

"Severus?" McGonagall was the one who was speaking to him. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," he replied, his voice rough from disuse. He turned towards the older witch and sighed inwardly. It was only McGonagall and Pomfrey in the room.

"You were attacked. Now, I've managed to heal your injuries, but you're going to have to take it easy for a few days, Professor," Pomfrey stated with pursed lips. She clearly had more to say. Luckily for him, McGonagall wasn't going to be deterred.

"What were you doing there, Severus? You could have been killed!"

"Professor Dumbledore—"

"You think they give a damn about him and his word anymore?" she snapped. "All they know is what they've read in reports. And even then, they likely don't even care."

"They're Aurors," he argued.

"And your point in that is, _what_? The Ministry isn't immune to darkness, Severus. I've seen it with my own eyes. Why else would I have left that damned place and come here?" She pinched her lips together tightly before she shook her head when he didn't respond. "I shouldn't have drawn attention to you earlier with the others. I know that. You've never been one to want that sort of attention on you. I just thought it'd be a good exercise for all of us to start over with. To trust one another. I apologize, Severus. But do not ever do that again. Do not leave the castle. Not now. Not with all that is going on out there. You could have died, and we'd not have known it if it hadn't been for Miss Le Fey."

His eyes narrowed on her. "What?"

"She's who found you and brought you to us."

"No. Aurora found me." He caught their brief looks of confusion and frowned even more. She had been the one to find him, not Demetri Le Fay. He was certain of it.

"That's impossible."

"I think I know who—"

"You couldn't have seen her. She's been in Italy since graduating from university. She made it very clear that she'd never return to England. I even offered her the chance to interview for the open Astronomy position this summer, and she declined."

"It was her, Minerva." He watched her glance towards the matron helplessly.

"We should let you rest, Severus," Pomfrey stated suddenly with a feigned polite smile.

"No. It was her," he argued.

"I'm sure it was, dear."

Why didn't they believe him? It had been Sinistra. He knew it was her. He then watched both witches turn and leave him alone in the hospital wing again. It was Sinistra who saved him. Sighing, he settled back against his cot. He was still too tired, it seemed, to fight.

As he drew his knees up and curled onto his side, he felt something in his pocket. His brows furrowed before he reached inside his pocket and pulled out a slip of folded parchment. He opened it a moment later and noticed his handwriting instantly staring up from the note. This had to have been the sheet Aurora had been talking about earlier. It seemed to be a formula for the time travel his future self had used. His fingers then brushed against the one line that he knew wasn't his. It was too elegant.

_Fixed moment_

It's what his future self had claimed when he had first arrived last November with Harrison. Evans' and Potter's deaths were fixed moments. They couldn't be changed. He sighed softly and folded the note back up. There were too many questions now and not enough answers.

Closing his eyes, he waited for sleep to come. He knew his dad was probably still down in the dungeons with his son. McGonagall probably alerted him to Severus's predicament. Yet his dad wasn't there either. Alone. He was so sick and tired of being alone. Was it too difficult to ask for a friend? Someone he could count on that wasn't related by blood?

But she had been there. The note was proof. So, then why did everyone else believe it had been the foul-mouthed American professor that had saved him? Why did Sinistra not show herself? What was going on? And the Aurors . . . he had expected some push back, but that was different. That was hatred and anger.

When he'd wake later, he'd speak with Miss Le Fay. Clearly, she knew more than she was letting on. And perhaps they could get on the right foot with one another. Not that he cared if they did or not. He just needed answers. And she seemed to know a few to some of his questions.

Until then . . .


	4. Madness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter pretty much wrote itself, hence the quick update. Many thanks to Snapeswidow for assisting with Demetri. If you feel a bit dizzy after reading this, I assure you that it's purely intentional. Enjoy.

Something was tickling his nose. He scrunched up his face before he brought a hand up. A quick squeak of surprise instantly alerted him to the fact that it hadn't been something but rather _someone_. He opened one eye and found a pair of hazel eyes staring back at him. Harrison.

"Attaboy," chuckled a semi-gruff voice off to Severus's side.

"Dad," the young wizard said with a soft sigh. Well, at least he wasn't alone this time.

"Yeah. Yer mother wanted to be here, well, sorta." Tobias rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "She wanted me to relay a message to you."

"I bet she did." Severus sighed heavily before he tried to sit up. He frowned when his dad instantly pressed a hand against his chest to force him back down. "Fine. What's her message?" He regretted asking it almost immediately afterwards when his father gently cuffed him upside the head. He should have known that'd be her message.

Harrison's giggles immediately filled the room.

He was glad the brat found that funny. Rubbing the side of his head, Severus pulled the boy closer. He had missed him. He smiled when the little boy kissed his cheek.

"So, are ya gonna tell us? Did ya find her?"

"What?" He glanced at Tobias.

"This lass yer all hung up about. Did ya find her?"

"I saw her, but . . ." He frowned wondering how much he should divulge. "She brought me back here after I was attacked."

"No, Demetri did, son," Tobias replied.

"What? No. It was Aurora."

"Uh, hate to argue with ya, but it was Demetri, Severus."

"It couldn't be. Aurora found me in London and . . ."

"London? No. Demetri found you and brought you here."

"She's lying!"

Harrison's head moved side to side as if he was watching an intense tennis match between his father and grandfather. He clearly didn't understand most of the words, but he did understand the emotions. Biting his bottom lip, he sniffled.

"The hell she is!"

"Dad, she didn't save me! I don't know what her deal is—"

"Deal?" Tobias growled before he scoffed loudly. "Ya make it sound like she's the one who attacked you."

"She could have. She could have ordered—"

"Oh, please! Not everyone you meet, son, wants to hurt ya. When are ya gonna get that through yer thick skull?"

"You may buy her entire act, but—"

"Act? What act? That she's just as lonely as you are? That she ain't got a friendly face around her except me? Nah. Come on, son. You can't really be this foolish. I mean, shit, son. She ain't some mastermind out to get you. She's just tryin' to fit in."

"You don't know her. You've only met her once."

"Twice thank you, but for the record there, you don't know her either. So, how about ya get to know her before ya start chuckin' stones at her house, yeah?"

Severus opened his mouth to snarl something particularly nasty at his father, but closed his mouth the second Harrison buried his face and started to cry into his side. He hadn't meant for the boy to get upset. Actually, truth be told, he had forgotten the boy was still there. He had been so used to being by himself, so it was still taking some time to get used to having another human depend on him. He rubbed gentle circles on the boy's back and sighed. His father might be able to afford to be naïve where the witch was concerned, but he couldn't be. He needed to keep his family safe.

"Judging by how yer first meetin' went, yer lucky she even brought ya up here, ya know?" Tobias said quietly. "Cause ya acted like a downright bastard to her."

"I was forced to stare into her eyes, Dad."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, she got a defensive with me first. What was I supposed to do? Stand and take her abuse silently, Dad?"

"Her abuse?" Tobias scoffed. "Ya ever think that maybe she didn't appreciate all that attention either? Shit, I mean, see it from her point of view. She gets hired into a foreign school. So not only is she the only new kid on the block, she's also the foreigner. And instead of gettin' a welcome, she gets some git snappin' at her because he's all anti-social and hung up on a lass who ain't even around."

"Anti-social?"

"Well, it ain't like ya make an effort to go meet other people, son."

The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Yeah, because I lose them once I get close, Dad." He watched his dad's eyes soften, and he turned away.

"Yer mum and me are here now."

"Keyword is now, Dad. You weren't around when I was growing up, though. And Mum, she had enough on her plate with Roger."

"Well, ya got Harrison then. The boy's been with ya for a year now. And he ain't leavin'."

Frowning, Severus rubbed the side of his head where a dull ache was starting to rear itself. The boy was only there because his future self had wanted the boy to have a better life this time. If he knew the truth . . .

He wondered how his future self had done it. A lifetime of loneliness. It was worse than any Cruciatus Curse or sentence in Azkaban in his mind. Though, perhaps that thinking was because Severus was starting to let others in again. If one didn't know any better, then it wouldn't hurt as bad.

"So, this witch of yers . . ." Tobias said, regaining his attention. "Pretty shitty of her to drop ya off and just leave ya for anyone to find, defenseless, don't ya think?"

He turned back to his father. "I'm sure she had a reason for leaving."

Tobias scoffed, shaking his head. "Just once, I wish ya didn't lie to yerself just to excuse the pretty girl ya like treatin' ya like shit again."

"Aurora didn't treat me—"

"She left ya, Severus, bleedin', injured, half-dead, for someone else to save ya. Pretty shitty in my book."

"She had to leave, though."

"Yeah? Why? She on the run from the Aurors? Or forgot she left the oven on? What, son? What pathetic excuse are ya gonna give her?"

"I don't know, but she wouldn't have just left me without a reason. I know she wouldn't." He winced as another surge of pain shot through him before it quickly vanished again.

"Yeah? And how do you ya know that? Cause the way I've seen it, ya didn't really know that much about her until ya got that letter and, ya know, that stranger showed up ruinin' yer future."

"He didn't ruin my future," Severus shot back.

"No? Then everythin' happened exactly as it should have? All the events fell in the right place, right time? Yeah?"

"Some have changed, but—Dad, you don't understand. I just know she wouldn't do that."

"You just know?" Tobias repeated slowly, his eyes holding Severus's.

"Yes. I don't know how to explain it, but I know it's true."

"I hope for yer sake then that it doesn't end up bitin' ya on yer ass, son."

So did he.

* * *

It wasn't long after that he found himself alone again in the hospital wing with nothing but time to dwell on all that he had learned from his father. Pomfrey, the matron from hell as he was going to refer to her from now on, had decided that he needed to be kept overnight for observation. Of course, that was easy for her to declare, seeing as how she had others to distract her. But for him, that was a lifetime of boredom, and that was always a dangerous thing for him.

His mind went through every possible explanation of what had occurred, dismissing the far-fetched ones. He couldn't help but alternate between anger and sadness. He was alone. Again! Alone in his misery. Alone in pain. Alone and left for dead. Alone to be found by Demetri Le Fey who spouted lies of her heroism to anyone who would listen. Alone to wallow in his feelings. Alone. Always alone.

Perhaps Sinistra had left him there because she had come under attack herself. Or she was called away. It was possible, he supposed. And McGonagall had said that Sinistra had claimed she'd never return to England again, and yet he knew she had. So, why didn't Sinistra want others to know she was there? A mission? No. She wasn't an Order member. Or maybe she was on second thought?

He frowned and rubbed his temple where the familiar ache flared to life again. It was strange. He didn't think she was, but yet . . . a part of him believed she was. Knew she was an Order member. He couldn't recall ever seeing her when he was on a mission for the Dark Lord, yet in his mind he knew she was. As the ache faded, he sighed. It was maddening. Utterly maddening.

Throwing off the blanket that Pomfrey had placed over him, he swung his legs to the side. He drew in a deep breath before he pushed himself up. He needed answers or he was going to go mad. Everything came back to Demetri. She knew. He just needed to get her to talk.

As he limped up to the office door in the Astronomy Tower several minutes later, he found himself clenching and unclenching his fists at his sides. Partly due to his pain that was increasing with each step, and partly due to his anger at not knowing the answers.

Would Demetri lie again? To his face this time? Or would she come clean and explain what the hell was going on? He hoped for the latter, but he was fairly certain from his brief interaction with her that it'd be the former. He brought his hand up and knocked against the heavy oak. If he had to, he would use every possible means to get his answers from her.

With her wand still in hand, he watched Demetri nearly knock her chair over as she jumped to her feet at seeing who had knocked. "Christ on a cracker, Professor! You look like hell." She smoothed the front of her skirt then—she was nervous . . .good—before moving around her desk and conjuring a chair for him. "Shouldn't you be in bed or something instead of coming all the way up here? You were nearly dead when I found you earlier. "

He stared at her and felt his frown deepen. So, she had chosen lies. So be it. "I merely wanted to thank you, Miss Le Fey, for saving me. I've been told that had it not been for you, well..." He forced a smile to his face, feeling his anger bubble up inside. How dare she spout that lie to him. She didn't save him. Sinistra had! He kept his voice even and calm. "It's strange, though..." He let his voice trail off.

Demetri stopped short at the man's tone, keeping the chair between her and the obviously angry wizard. If looks could kill, she was long dead. "Is sarcasm another British custom, or are you an exception?" she replied, crossing her arms defensively across her chest. It was clear a part of her wanted to throw up a shield, expecting an attack from him at any moment. "Your mouth said thank you, but your tone suggests a four-letter word beginning with F."

He snorted and inclined his head. "As you wish." If she wasn't going to play, neither was he. He appreciated her brutal honesty of the situation, though. "You didn't save me, and you know it. So, why are you spouting that ridiculous lie to everyone? You weren't there in London! Aurora Sinistra was!"

Demetri lowered her arms and slipped a hand into her pocket to grip her wand at the professor's tone. He was upset clearly and looked like he was two seconds away from snapping. "You're either high on whatever Poppy gave you, or you're suffering from some sort of head injury." She spoke softly as if speaking to a spooked horse. If she could only diffuse the tension, then maybe she had a chance. "I never said I was in London. I found you at the gates half dead and brought you up to the castle."

He stepped back and stared at her. He hadn't expected her not to argue. "What?"

Demetri sighed and perched on the edge of her desk. "I was leaving the castle to head for the village when I saw the silvery panther rushing up to me with a frantic message saying you were attacked and needed medical attention." She shrugged. "I couldn't just leave you there."

Silvery panther? It was a Patronus clearly. His eyes moved back and forth as he chewed on this for a moment. Dumbledore had taught all Order members how to use their Patronus to send messages. It was in case an Order member was being attacked. It made it so the others could assist. So, it was an Order member. But Aurora had found him in London. She had been the one to fight off his attackers before they killed him. So, then he _was_ right. She was an Order member. She had to be.

"So, you . . .then you know?" He winced as he took a step towards her. This familiar headache was becoming a serious thorn in his side. "You do know then what's going on." Demetri could shed light on this entire thing. He could stop focusing on the who, what, why, how, etc, and just on what needed to be done next. "Why do they believe she's not in England? Why is that a secret?" The questions poured from him. "Why did the Aurors attack me?" She only stared at him, though, as if she didn't know what was going on. No. No she couldn't lie now. She had to know. "What the fuck is going on, Le Fey?" The last question he couldn't help but yell.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Severus." She had drawn her wand when he stepped towards her, keeping it at her side. "You need to calm down and go back to the hospital wing."

"No! Not until you answer my questions! You know each other. I heard her words. She stated if I left again, she'd tell you to hex me. You know her, Demetri!" He caught her brief look of confusion before it flickered away.

"Aurora Sinistra? Yeah, I know her. Seeing as we how both studied astronomy to become professors, we took a class or two together in university." She snorted and shook her head. "And, trust me, Snape. I don't need her permission to hex you where you stand, especially seeing as how you've come into my office and started screaming like a raving lunatic."

No. No! Why wasn't she answering? Why was she trying to distract him from the truth? If he were a different man, he might have reached towards her and shook her. Didn't she see how her not answering was only upsetting him more?

"She was supposed to be here, not you," he declared bluntly, brushing off her flinch at his words. "Is that her fixing what happened? Not being here this year, or is it something else?" It was maddening not knowing the answers and having the person with all of them refusing to divulge. He considered drawing his own wand, but decided against it ultimately. They weren't at that point quite yet. "Why are you here and not her? You're working together, correct? You and Sinistra?"

"You need help."

He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Clearly, Le Fey, you're missing the point. I'm asking you for help. In working all this out. You have answers. Answers I need. Now, we can continue to debate if I should still be in the hospital wing being fussed about, or you can be useful."

Her eyes flashed before she scoffed. "If you'd stop screaming at me like the petulant child I accused you of, I may be inclined to help you. But seeing as how so far you haven't . . ."

"Very well." He hadn't wanted it to come to this, but... "Have it your way." His eyes locked onto hers, and his fingers curled around his hidden wand. He needed to know. And if she wasn't going to cooperate, then he'd get the answers from her without her help.

"What?" Her face fell before the realization of what he was about to do occurred to her. Blinking and turning away from him to break his gaze, she stepped towards him. The dagger from her corset immediately was pressed deep against his chest. "You asshole!" she spat before she briefly glanced at him. "You think you can just root around in my head, violate me, just to get these answers you stupidly believe I'm hiding from you?" Her eyes flashed.

He smirked, though, withdrawing from her mind. She had acted exactly how he had predicted. He grabbed her upper arms to pull her closer. "No. But it had the desired effect I required." His nostrils flared, and his voice was low but steady. "Aurora contacted you. Not Minerva. Not Poppy. _You_. So, clearly, she trusts you for some reason. Some reason I haven't discovered yet." He inhaled slowly and exhaled, keeping himself calm.

She tensed as he grabbed her, bracing for an attack that didn't come.

"I wish to know what is going on, Demetri. You may think of me as a raving lunatic as you so eloquently stated earlier, but I assure you I am only this way because the answers I require, the answers I believe you have, evade me."

Her eyes narrowed but she said nothing.

"I was attacked by Aurors. Now, for all intents and purposes, I can't find a single reason why that'd be. I switched sides long before the Dark Lord was vanquished. Professor Dumbledore, in fact, had the Ministry grant me immunity, as everything I did, was for the Order." He drew in another deep breath and winced when the pain surged again. "Now, if it was just the attack, I'd be a bit upset. But there's then the whole mystery of Sinistra. McGonagall believes I'm mad and states I couldn't have seen her. Yet you and I both know I did. And it seems for whatever reason you left that quaint detail out to her and everyone else. So they think I'm mad."

Her eyes darted away but he continued.

"On top of that, I have the questions of why her mother strangely left St Mungo's not long after giving my father a file about his family. But the cherry on the top of this very bad day was you showing up." Her eyes flashed angrily. "The wrench that time has thrown me to keep me off track. It's not your fault, of course. I'm certain you're competent and all, but you should not be here, Miss Le Fey. And yet, here you are."

He frowned, idly realizing that he was acting like a complete and utter dunderhead. He never was like this. Letting all the secrets pour out of him like a raging river. But he continued, needing to get it out. The emotional volcano inside him had blown its top finally.

"This whole summer, the entire blasted time," he stated, "I kept repeating to myself how it would get better. That I wouldn't be alone anymore. When I saw you, though—do you understand? All of these things, all of them, have pissed me off royally. I mean, shit, how am I to keep my son and I safe, my family safe, when I'm focused on everything that's changed?" He sighed before he released her finally. "My father claims you are trustworthy. So, I will have to trust you. Won't I?"

Demetri rubbed her bare arms after he let her go and frowned. "I can be trusted. That is if you'd stop assuming I'm part of some sinister plan to royally fuck you over." She then moved back behind the desk, half-expecting him to attack her from behind.

He snorted before he sighed and glanced away. Most everyone he had ever met had tried to screw him one way or another. It was no wonder he had trust issues really.

When he remained where he stood far from her, she pulled open a drawer, withdrawing a bottle of Absinthe. She glanced at the dark-haired man before her before pulling the cork and drinking straight from the bottle. He was driving her to drink.

He watched her take a swig of Absinthe and then walked towards the window. His eyes glanced upwards at the stars. They were beautiful, he supposed. If one stopped and took the time to see them.

Wincing at the undiluted taste of the fermented herbs as she swallowed, Demetri recorked the bottle and left it on the desk. As if nothing had happened. "I can't answer your questions, Severus, because I don't know all of the answers."

He sighed softly, closing his eyes. She knew Astronomy so perhaps she could . . . It was getting harder to concentrate for some reason. He rubbed the back of his head and inhaled slowly. She could tell him what he was missing. Or maybe he'd go to the library. He had always done that in the past. No. It was better to test her. To hear it firsthand. A book couldn't carry on a conversation like a person could.

"What do you know about some event that occurred back in the late 1890s?"

Demetri cocked her head. "I remember Sin saying something once in a study group that some idiot screwed with time and caused an entire Thursday to last a few hours." She shrugged. His question had thrown her, it seemed, because she continued. "She was always asking the professors about time travel. Studied nearly all ancient star charts and journals she could get her hands on. All for evidence of people actually going back in time further than a time turner would allow." Demetri snorted. "She even asked to speak with my Great-grandmother's portrait once for a side project she was apparently working on. Though, no one could figure out what project it was for, as she didn't make friends you can imagine with the whole time travel thing."

"Interesting." He then shook his head. He couldn't be focusing on that attention-to-detail Aurora had displayed yet. "Without going into unnecessary details, suffice it to say, the timeline has been altered." Why was he trusting her? Honestly. He didn't know this woman. And yet he was betraying everything to . . . Had he drunk a bottle of Veritaserum and not realized it? "I realize that—or actually I don't..." He then sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't making any sort of sense anymore. Even he could tell that. Though, the pounding in his head was probably the main reason for that. "Do you remember anything about that? As in—could the reason the Aurors attacked me be because of the timeline being altered? Or..." He groaned, reaching out to the wall to steady himself.

"Are you serious?!" Demetri blinked at the thought of her old friend's late-night ramblings coming true. Sinistra actually had found a way to time travel, and it seemed had somehow ended up screwing up this poor young professor's life so much he was paranoid about everything and anything he felt was off. Well, she supposed that explained a few things on second thought. "You being attacked could be a byproduct of messing around with time, I guess. I'm not really well-versed in that sort of stuff. It was always her thing." She then looked over at him to find him swaying on his feet. She jumped off the edge of her desk and grabbed his arms. "Okay, you need to sit down before you fall down." She maneuvered him into the chair in front of her desk and bit her lip, thinking of what to do with him if he passed out on her. "Severus?"

He glanced up at her and groaned. His vision was blurring once more. Closing his eyes, he inhaled slowly. He could almost smell raspberries... and... A soft chuckle left his lips before his head lulled back. He could welcome the darkness this time because he knew what he was coming to.

"Fuck," Demetri swore as he slumped against her. Sliding an arm around his shoulder to keep him from falling over, she drew her wand and cast a levitation charm on him. She then concentrated on the door behind her desk that led to her private rooms to wandlessly open the door. When she heard the click from the lock and saw the door open a moment later, she thanked the Gods. Finally she was able to get that right. It figured that it'd be with him that'd happen.

Gently and carefully, she used her wand to levitate Severus onto her couch in her rooms before she pocketed her wand. She glanced at him before her gaze went to the fireplace. Should she call Poppy? Maybe Tobias even?

"When I said you needed to find a man," a haughty voice spoke from above her mantel, "I didn't expect you to bring one back unconscious."

Demetri glared up at the portrait instantly. That was not helping. "Fuck off, Morgana."

The older witch scoffed before exiting the frame in a huff.

Demetri then grabbed a handful of powder before she threw it into the flames. This was not what she had agreed to!


	5. Fate's Warning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a bit longer to write, but it's longer too. Hopefully, I haven't confused all of you too badly, and if I did, I hope this clears some things up. If you're a Doctor Who fan, you'll notice some influences. Thanks again to Snapeswidow for helping write Dem again. Enjoy.

After passing out in Demetri's office, the first thing he noticed upon 'waking' in his dream world was that he could think so clearer now. Then he saw the darkness all around him. Misty grey darkness. Thick, heavy, smoky fog blotted out everything as far as the eye could see. And yet he wasn't afraid of the darkness this time. It was almost peaceful for him. Like he was greeting an old friend.

"What in Circe's name are you doing?" spoke softly a female from somewhere in the darkness. "Severus, please tell me that's not—okay, who are you and what did you do with my fiancé? Because there is no chance in a snowball's hell that you, Severus Snape, came up with all of this on your own."

His eyes narrowed, as he glanced around in the darkness. Where was the voice coming from? All he could see was the gray mist blanketing the world he was in. Yet the woman's voice was clear as day as if she was standing right in front of him. He blinked a few more times, wondering if that'd help.

"Candles, self-charmed violins—wait, are those rose petals?" The woman laughed in pure astonishment. "Where in the Nine Hells did you get that many rose petals? All right. Who _are_ you?"

His brow rose suddenly when he finally saw himself reflected on a nearby patch of fog. It was a memory. It had to be. Not his memory clearly, as this version was much older than he was.

"I'll have you know, Sinistra, I spent a lot of time on this ridiculous fantasy of yours," his older self drawled, crossing his arms with a faint smirk.

"Yeah, clearly," she said with a snort.

The patch of fog the memory was playing out on then fizzled like a tv with a bad connection. He frowned before his eyes darted to another memory cloud showing off to his left. He moved to it to see it better. The moment he realized what he was seeing, though, he glanced away. Aurora's outer robes from before had been exchanged for a sexy smoky blue negligée that left hardly anything to the imagination.

"Well, Severus?" she murmured. "What do you think?"

"I think my NEWT students are going to be very shocked to hear I've suddenly come down with whatever the hell is a good excuse to cancel classes the rest of the day," he heard his older self drawl before the memory vanished.

The memories he was witnessing without a doubt were from his future self. Somehow, he was able to see them now. He didn't know how. He didn't know why. But he didn't want it to stop. Not yet at least. Not until he knew for certain.

"Congratulations, Severus." Aurora's voice was much softer now in the memory replay. He barely heard her, so he moved closer. This memory was displayed in the fog to his right now.

His eyes narrowed on her, noticing her subdued posture and teaching robes. She was fiddling with her hands nervously as she stared at his older self. He couldn't help but frown at what he saw. The other man was barely paying any attention to her. Instead, the older version seemed utterly bored with her as he leaned against his desk, looking down at a journal full of hastily written notes. It took present Severus a moment to realize that this office was actually in the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom.

"The students are lucky to have you as their professor this year," she continued, pushing forward.

"Lucky?" His older self scoffed slamming shut the journal on his desk.

"You know what I mean, Severus."

"Rarely," his older self scoffed, turning away from her. He grabbed a heavy tome from a nearby shelf and started to thumb through it. As if it was the most interesting thing in the world to him right then. When she didn't leave, he sighed and said with a thoroughly bored tone, "You may go, Sinistra. You've done your one good deed for the day."

"Are you truly that bitter and angry?" she snapped back, her hands instantly flying to her hips. "I'm congratulating you, you jackarse, on receiving the Defense post. Something you've wanted for years! But, by all means," she growled, throwing her hands up, "do continue to push away all of us because you're scared to be human for just one second!"

"Scared?" snarled his older self, slamming his book down onto his desk. "Of what? Of the stupid made-up curse? The others were incompetent fools, Sinistra. I am not!"

Present Severus's mouth dropped when he saw her swiftly snatch ahold of his older self before she pushed up his sleeve and exposed his forearm. The Dark Mark was visible now and ugly as ever, black as night. The Dark Lord had returned in this memory. No wonder she was worried.

"You may think you have everyone else fooled, Severus, but only an idiot would not be scared at the sight of _that_. It's darker than it ever was last year. But please do try to wrap yourself up in your snark and sarcasm. After all, they've done you so much good lately, haven't they?"

"How dare you!"

"No! How dare _you_!" she snapped, glaring at his older self. "Learn to accept that not everyone in your damn life is out to make your life miserable. Some of us, the few that there are since you're such a fucking idiot sometimes, do actually care and consider you a friend. But, of course, you can't see that over your obnoxiously long nose. Can you, Severus?" She growled, shaking her head. "For flying Hippogryff's sake, just take the damn congratulations, you bloody bat!"

The younger Severus almost instantly burst out laughing. She wasn't angry with his older self. No. She was more annoyed with him than anything else from what he could tell. She had fire, passion, and spunk. And she clearly wasn't afraid to give it back to him. He watched his older self blink in surprise before she stormed away. Did his older self understand now what he did, he wondered. That memory then ended and was quickly replaced by another. It was starting to get rather dizzying to watch.

"A dance, please? That's all I ask. Just one quick dance." Aurora was wearing a long, blood red gown with sparkly sleeves. In the middle was a silver broach that held together the half-cloak.

"No," grumbled his older self, drawing his wand before pointing it at a shaking bush. Both his older self and Aurora were in formal robes, and snow seemed to be falling around them as they were making their way around the castle's grounds.

"Just one dance, Severus," she pleaded, stepping in front of him and the bush. "Surely even you can muster up—"

"I said, no. Perhaps you don't understand the meaning of that word, seeing as how you're—"

"Incorrigible?" she offered with a smile, placing her hand atop of his.

His older self grimaced before he turned away and headed in the opposite direction.

"Why do you always do that? Flee as if I'm asking you to take the Cruciatus Curse for me? It's one dance, Severus, not me asking you to marry me."

He watched his older self stop instantly and whirl back to her. His older self's eyes narrowed into slits before he swiftly glided back to her and grabbed her forearms. The long robes flapped threateningly behind him as he did this.

"You say it as if it's not, but with you it might as well be. After all, you forget, Aurora. I _know_."

"What? That I fancy you?" she stated with a shrug. "Come on. Everyone knows that. It's not like I've hid that. Though, you know, you likely would have noticed that if you wouldn't have had your head so far up—"

"Don't!" his older self snarled, throwing himself back as if he had been burnt and releasing her.

"Severus!" She stared back at him in clear confusion.

"Leave now, Sinistra, or else I will _make_ you leave! I have no need for silly witches who—"

Even though his older self was snarling at her like a feral animal, she didn't back away from him or cower. Instead, she grabbed his face with both hands and forced him to stare into her eyes, cutting his words off instantly by her shocking action. Even the present Severus jumped at her action.

"I don't know what the hell has gotten into you tonight, probably the Mark or something," she began, "but stop it right now. I wasn't bringing Evans up. I swear on my oath of that. I mean, shit, Severus. I care for you. You may annoy the hell out of me somedays, and I may want to hex your balls off, but I care for you. So, why the hell would I hurt you like that? Hmm?" When he didn't say anything, she released him and scoffed. "You know, for being a so-called genius, you sometimes are so thick."

The younger Severus had to agree with that statement. He had only seen half a dozen memories, and so far it was so clear that she cared for him. How could he have not noticed this? Had he truly been that blinded by Evans? At least he (present Severus) had a reason why he hadn't noticed. His timeline had been altered so none of this would occur.

"What I was going to say before you so rudely interrupted," Aurora said with a heavy sigh "was that you'd know that I care for you if you didn't have your head so far up your own arse with this whole Order/Dumbledore business. And in regards to the one dance being equated to a marriage proposal, that's a load of crap, and you know it. A dance requires no planning, little effort on your part. Whereas if we were to marry, you bet your arse I'm going to make you work for my hand in marriage. It's the least you can do for being the insufferable git you are." She then sighed. "Good night, Severus. Do try not to enjoy ruining too many kids' nights tonight, all right?"

The present Severus chuckled as he watched his older self stare after her in bewilderment as she left him there speechless. He knew he shouldn't be seeing these memories, that it was a side effect of a timeline trying to stabilize itself again, but things were starting to make so much more sense now. Perspective. That was what he was gaining with this. Perspective on why his future self had married her.

And then his world turned upside down as the memory vanished suddenly. He cocked his head to the side and glanced about the darkness. All of the other memories had started a few seconds after the last one ended. Yet this one was taking a bit longer, it seemed. He frowned before he stepped forward.

Whoosh!

The air was sucked out of his lungs. It was as if he had been punched hard in the gut. He recoiled as if he had, in fact, before he saw the image fizzle in on the foggy cloud.

"You seem shocked to see us, Snape. Doesn't he, Roddy?" a gruff voice declared suddenly.

"What's the matter, hmm?" drawled another voice. "Cat got your tongue? Here. Let me loosen that for you. _Crucio_!"

The pain flooded his nerves. Present and Future Severus both screamed. When the pain vanished, he doubled over and panted loudly. His eyes darted to the memory cloud, noticing that his future self had done the same. They were the same right then. But that was impossible, wasn't it?

"SEVERUS!" Aurora's distant scream echoed in the darkness that had come.

" _Silencio_ , bitch!" one of the men snarled a moment later before the image reappeared.

The Lestrange brothers were in a bedroom with Aurora. One of them was holding a wand to her throat in fact. It took Severus a moment to notice her swollen abdomen. She was pregnant.

"Let her go!" his older self ordered, tied to a chair now. "Your conflict is with me, not her."

The brothers glanced at one another.

"Eh, he makes a valid point," one of them said. "Maybe we should let the little whore go."

"On the other hand . . ." the other brother drawled before he plunged his knife deep into her. Both of the brothers sneered at his older self and tossed her onto the bed as if she was a piece of trash.

The terrible scent of blood burned in his nostrils. Severus felt sick, his stomach rolling.

"No . . ." his older self whispered with a shaky breath. He fought against the ropes that bound him, desperate to reach her. His magic seemed to refuse to cooperate and banish the wretched things.

"So long, traitor!" the brothers mocked as the two men faded away.

His eyes remained glued to her, helpless as he watched the blood pour out of her wounds.

"No . . ." he moaned. It couldn't be like this. It couldn't end this way.

"Shh," she whispered, holding his eyes. "Don't . . . cry, love." She drew in a rattling breath, the blood clearly filling in her lungs as she coughed and sputtered for a moment. "It's . . . all right."

Severus reached towards her, closing his eyes when his hand went through her image. He glanced back at his older self. The man had watched her die, unable to help.

How could she be so calm knowing that she was dying? Find it in herself to reassure him at a time like that? She was dying, and yet she was acting as if it was just a brief interlude. His older self was fighting even harder to reach her now, to save her.

It was a good while before anyone else entered the room. He watched a dark-skinned Auror—Shacklebolt he though his name was—banish his older self's restraints before he stepped in front of him.

"Stop, Snape," the Auror commanded somberly. "It's nothing you want to see. Trust me."

"Get the fuck out of my way, Kingsley!" his older self snarled, pushing the other man away. "She's my wife, not yours! Mine!"

This was why his future self had risked it all. Not for the boy or for himself, but for _her_.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the real world in her rooms, Demetri waited for the flames to turn emerald before she stuck her head in and Firecalled for her old friend. She wanted to strangle her for not warning her about Severus and his asshole attitude. If she knew it would be like this, she'd never have agreed to such a preposterous and ridiculous thing. It took a moment before Aurora's face appeared in the flames.

"Dem?" The witch seemed confused as to why Demetri was Firecalling her.

"Don't you 'Dem' me, Sin!" she snapped. The stress of dealing with her unconscious coworker had gotten on her last nerve. "What the hell did you do!"

"Me? I haven't done anything. What are you going on about?" Aurora then sighed heavily as it hit her. "It's Severus, isn't it?"

Demetri snorted derisively. "No, it's another snarky ass who happens to teach potions. Of course, it's him!"

"Look. Whatever's going on, I'm sure you can handle it."

"Handle it? That man has done nothing but tear me down ever since he's laid eyes on me," she spat. "And today after you left him at the gates like some morbid present for me to collect, he came storming into my office demanding to know why I was lying about saving his sorry ass. Do you know how hard it is not to scream at him or hex him or, hell, punch him?" Demetri sighed, running her hands through hair. "There isn't enough Absinthe in the world that would make handling him easy."

"Ah." She sighed. "He's, well, sort of, you know, an acquired taste."

Demetri scoffed.

"He doesn't like surprises, or new people, or really much of anything," Aurora continued. "And he was probably in a lot of pain and being a total idiot like most men and trying to be macho and ignore his pain. Don't take his words to heart. Please?"

"It sucks, Sin. Hearing him constantly say I don't belong here. I get enough of that back home."

"I know. I wouldn't have put you in anything you couldn't handle, Dem. I owe you, remember?"

"You're really gonna owe me now."

"I know." She sighed before she glanced away briefly. "No matter what he says, you do belong there. Someone has to keep him from being an idiot after all. And I'm not there. So—" An indiscernible noise then echoed through the Floo. "Damn it!" Aurora sighed heavily, her voice lowering to a near whisper as if she was afraid someone was listening in. "Dem, you belong. Whatever he says otherwise, just know that you belong there. I'll see you soon."

"Wait! How am I supposed to keep him from being an idiot when he won't even give me the time of day, let alone listen to me?"

Her friend laughed. "Do what I do. Keep trying and don't give up on him. He's unfortunately quite used to people giving up on him. He'll respect you more if you—"

"Aurora, dear, who are you speaking to?" another voice called out from behind her suddenly.

A male voice Demetri noticed. She cocked her head at the sound of another person coming through the connection. "Shit, did I interrupt something?" She hadn't even considered that there would be someone else there at this hour.

Aurora, however, seemed to reply to her guest instead. "No one, dear. Just working things out in my head. I'll be there in a moment," she called out before sighing. Lowering her voice even more, she replied, "I have to go, Dem. You'll be fine. I promise. Just, you know, give it back to him sometimes." She then gave a sad smile. "And remember . . . this is just for a bit until I've finished. Once it's all good, then—" A loud pop then exploded over the connection before Aurora's fiery face had vanished from the Floo suddenly.

"Sin?" Demetri sighed as the Floo closed. Standing a moment later, she brushed ashes off her skirt and stood up. Now, what was she supposed to do?

"Aurora!" a voice shouted behind her.

Demetri spun, startled, her wand in hand and at the ready. Severus seemed half-crazed again.

"What happened? Get her back!" His dark eyes searched the crackling fireplace desperately.

"Severus, calm down." She sighed. "She closed the Floo. I can't get her back."

He glanced at her before he blinked and frowned. "What did she mean, 'Once she's finished?" His eyes narrowed on her, his voice softening and adopting a politer tone. "Demetri, please."

The way he had said 'please' sent chills down her spine. "I don't know. I swear. She didn't give me any details."

"But she asked you to keep watch on me, right?" He surprisingly didn't seem upset about this. In fact, he seemed almost at peace with it strangely enough. Or maybe that was all in her head.

"She wanted me to try and become friends with you while she wasn't here, but you're not making it easy." At all. In fact, she probably could have become friends with an Inferi long before she would be with him at the rate they were going presently.

His browns then furrowed before he glanced around the room, as if he just now noticed where he was, before he grabbed his head and inhaled deeply.

She stepped towards him, worried as he grabbed his head. The last time he did that, he had passed out on her. "What's wrong?"

"Friends . . ." he repeated and chuckled bitterly before he winced again.

She knelt beside him, frowning. He wasn't making any sense again. "Severus?" Was he about to pass out again? At least this time he was already on her sofa. He wouldn't hurt himself at least.

"I have memories. Memories that aren't mine," he admitted quietly, glancing at her with a haunted look. "I . . . It's like there's two of me inside my head now." He pressed his palms to his eyes and groaned. "In the dream . . . no—rather memories, though, his memories, it was just me and my thoughts only in my head, my memories, but here . . ."

She gently grabbed his hands so he didn't hurt himself more.

"It . . . it has to be the timeline," he stated, holding her gaze. "It always tries to correct itself. Every telly show I've ever seen depicts that." He then inhaled shakily. "I-I remember this room, and yet I've never been in here before." He glanced towards the black spiral staircase in the far corner. "That leads to a bedroom." He then turned to the mantel. "And that portrait, Demetri, it should be Phineas Nigellus, not Morgana."

Demetri frowned. That wasn't good. A person could go insane with what he was describing. She then made her way to the small kitchen, keeping an eye on him as she gathered stuff to make tea. Tea would help. Wasn't that why the British were always drinking the stuff?

"You're a potions master," she started to say quietly. "Know of any potions that could help? Or spells? Or, you know, maybe we could ask Poppy?"

"I'd rather chew off my own arm than to go to Pomfrey," he replied dryly.

She snorted. Yeah, she should have expected that reaction from him on second thought. Maybe a distraction would help him. It couldn't hurt after all. Could it? "She wouldn't let me leave the hospital wing earlier until she did every possible scan she knew to make sure I wasn't hurt as well when I brought her to you." She paused with her hand on the tea kettle when he groaned again, her eyebrows furrowed. He seemed to be getting worse again. Maybe tea wasn't a good idea on second thought.

She moved to the cupboard again and pulled out a bottle of Absinthe and glass. Sin was gonna owe her another few bottles or a trip to France to get some more at the rate she was going if she was going to last an entire year babysitting the man in her sitting room. Pouring a measure into the glass, she glanced at Severus before she grabbed another glass. He definitely looked like he needed one as well.

"And here I thought I'd have an easy year this time," he admitted, flopping back onto the sofa. His breathing was coming out in short, measured gasps. "Full of brats sniveling about how life wasn't fair. As if they knew heartbreak. Knew loss." He glanced up at the ceiling.

"Don't you know the moment you think something is gonna be easy, Karma decides to fuck you over then?" Demetri asked with a soft laugh. She smiled when he half-shrugged. If she could just keep his mind occupied a bit more . . . She then continued to pour the Absinthe into his glass.

"Fixed moments," he declared. "That's what she wrote. Fixed moments."

She frowned as she walked over to him and held out a glass to him. "Fixed moments?" she repeated. "Like a moment that stays the same no matter what sort of changes occur?"

He frowned at the glass before he glanced at her. He then sighed and grabbed it from her. "I don't know. I never really—it wasn't my thing, Astronomy. I did what I had to in order to pass, but—moon lilies and stages of the moon were all that remained after it." He swirled the glass, staring at the liquid. "Why isn't she coming back, Demetri?" He then glanced at her, not waiting for her to answer before he continued. "Because she saw me with Harrison last spring? She's always wanted kids, I thought. Not that I know really, because I never even saw her before, but, you know, the other me . . ." It hurt to say it aloud. Had she left because he had a child? He took a liberal amount of a sip then. Drowning his sorrows was due.

She sipped her drink as she listened to him talk, moving back into the sitting room with the bottle. She set it on the coffee table between them and sat in her chair. "She never mentioned why she was doing what she was doing. She just told me something major had happened, and she couldn't take the teaching position here."

He nodded slowly before he took another drink. It was beginning to get easier to think. Sort of. He was starting to get a little bit of a buzz, but at least he wasn't seeing memories that weren't his any longer. That was a plus.

"It wasn't her by the way—the alterations—or me for that matter," he admitted with a sigh, swirling the Absinthe. "She died in that timeline. I—he didn't tell me that. Not really. Just that he was here to make all of our lives better. Somehow." He glanced upwards and traced a crack with his eyes. "Dumbledore knew. It's why he left last year. He said he had something to finish."

Demetri took another sip from her glass, listening to him.

"So, I thought I was free, you know? That I could raise the boy, give him a good home, be friends with Aurora, and learn why she was the one he had married." He glanced back at Demetri, sighing. "He was so in love with her. They—they were to have a child together. Their first. Only that didn't happen. He," his voice cracked "watched his wife and unborn child die." He inhaled shakily before he closed his eyes. "It's why he came back. The real reason. He wanted me to have a better life than he had. More time with her." His hand clenched tighter around the glass.

Demetri listened to him with growing sadness. She swallowed the lump in her throat and drained her glass before refilling it. She wished she could tell him that Aurora wouldn't have given up on him that easily, but she couldn't form the words. There had to be something Aurora knew that they didn't. It was the only explanation for what was going on. The way her friend had gone on about him sometimes, rare as it was actually, she could feel the depth of Aurora's affection for him.

"But what if her death was a fixed moment, Demetri? What if I'm not supposed to have that time he wanted us to have?" He stared at her, searching her eyes. "What if all this is for nothing? That I'm not supposed to be with her? That I'm meant to always be in the darkness? Alone?" His glass shattered a second later, and he sighed. His eyes fell to the blood dripping from where the glass had cut him. "It failed before after all," he murmured.

When the glass shattered, Demetri jumped before she drew her wand to vanish the mess. Grabbing a towel, she pulled his hand into hers and wiped away the blood before casting a healing charm on the deep gash in his palm.

"We can change things; your future self is proof of that, though." He watched her heal his hand and sighed quietly. "She is coming back, though, Severus. She promised me she would."

It was then as if a switch flicked inside him. His earlier sullen self was quickly replaced with a neutral, nonchalant version. An emotional robot, she thought on second thought.

"I've taken up enough of your time," he stated briskly, inclining his head to her. "Thank you, Demetri, for your kindness. I apologize for making you feel unwanted, though. I should not have taken my anger out on you."

She blinked as she stared at him. He had to be the most complex, strangest man she had ever met. Ranting like a rabid animal one moment, and the next devoid of all emotions, lifeless. Didn't he have a happy middle?

"I am a Le Fay. My family is known for epic temper tantrums, thanks to Morgana not getting her way," she stated weakly. Vanishing her empty cup and the bloody rag, she returned to her chair. "You aren't wasting my time, though. I've no one but a bitter portrait and a familiar to talk to so any company, even yours, is a welcome distraction."

He glanced at the empty portrait above the mantel before he turned back to her with a sigh. "I shouldn't have made your day worse."

"I accept your apology and offer one of my own. I shouldn't have insulted you in front of the rest of the staff. You seemed just as uncomfortable as I was." She watched his gaze fall to the floor. "Unfortunately, I tend to let my mouth get away from me when I'm put on the spot."

He gave her a faint smirk and inclined his head. The silence gently fell around them. It wasn't so noticeable now. In fact, it was almost a comfortable, calming silence. They were coming to a sort of truce, albeit a bit of a rocky one.

"Normally, I wouldn't agree to fraternize with the 'enemy'," he drawled "but I don't suppose I could have another glass? It is after all in poor taste of me to make a lady drink alone."

Demetri snorted and summoned another glass. She poured a measure of Absinthe into both before placing a small metal spoon over his with a sugar cube on top. Using her wand, she cast a quick _Aguamenti_ and watched as the cool water melted the sugar and turned the green liquor opaque. She repeated the process with her glass before handing him his glass.

"Enemy, huh?" she shot back with a scoff. "And here I was thinking of helping you with the predicament our mutual friend placed you in." She sipped from her glass to hide her smirk.

"Predicament?" His eyes narrowed on her. "I don't follow."

"Sin knows way more than she's letting on. She has to or else she'd be here instead of me. You said so yourself that she was supposed to be the Astronomy professor this year, but instead I get a random owl from the headmistress saying I was recommended by a professor in Salem to teach here. A professor, mind you, that I know for a fact hated me because of some past wrong my father supposedly committed against him." She ran her finger around the edge of her glass. "Add to that the whole 'keep an eye on Severus so he doesn't do something foolish' business." She shrugged. "I've known Aurora for a while and subtlety was never her strongest suit."

"But what could that be? What could she possibly be doing? It doesn't make sense. She—He told me that she's always been by my side. I've only seen her twice since leaving Hogwarts the first time. Last spring and earlier today. Three times if you count your Firecall just now. She isn't—The timeline will try to fix itself. It will..." He paused and frowned, clearly losing his train of thought. "I—" A knock then made him draw his wand and point it at the door. "Were you expecting guests?"

Her gaze shot to the door as well as she stood. "Not that I know of." Her brow furrowed at his drawn wand and a sliver of fear slid down her spine. The way he held his wand, it was clear to her that he'd defend him, and maybe her, to the death. "Just a moment," she called out to whomever was knocking at her door, slipping her own wand in her hand before heading to the door. She glanced at Severus as she called out, noticing his head incline to her. "Who is it?"

"Auror Nevins from the Ministry," a booming voice stated from the other side of the door. "Open your door, Miss Le Fay!"

Demetri's grip on her wand tightened at the man's tone before she opened the door just enough to see the man on the other side. Sure enough, he seemed to wear Ministry robes. "Forgive me for being cautious, sir, but I'm going to need to see some identification." She gave him a feigned smile. "After all, it wasn't long ago that there was a war here. Never can be too careful these days, you know?"

The man inclined his head before he flashed his Ministry ID at her. "Now, that we've gotten that out of the way. Mind letting me in?"

Demetri swallowed her snarky retort, as she stepped away from the door and opened it more. "May I ask what beings you to my door at this hour, Mr. Evans?" she asked purposely using the wrong name. It'd throw him, she hoped.

The man's smoky blue eyes darted towards Severus instantly. "I would ask your house guest that question, Miss Le Fay." He then drew in a slow breath. "It is a serious offense to alter time. But then I would imagine you know all about that, don't you, Professor Snape?"

"Now wait just a minute." Demetri moved to stand in front of Severus, her arms crossed over her chests with her wand still in hand. "You can't just accuse someone of something like that, especially not something as far-fetched as time travel without any proof." She glanced at Severus before flicking her gaze back to the Auror. "Is this why two officers from your department attacked Severus in London earlier, leaving him half dead?"

The man frowned before he turned back to her. "I assure you, they weren't from _my_ department. He may have become a nuisance with all his alterations recently, but no one in my department would have attacked him. Not after getting rid of the Dark Lord after all." He then returned his gaze to Severus. "If you were attacked, it wasn't from anyone in the Ministry. At least none from the, shall we say, good side of the Ministry, that is."

She shook her head. "You keep accusing Severus of meddling with time, which without a time turner is impossible." She didn't like what he was getting at.

Nevins cocked his head to the side before he scoffed. "Miss Le Fay, stick to your stars and keep your remarks about time and all of its mysteries to yourself. After all, I don't remark to you about the third star of Ophiuchus that is currently missing and give you my theories on it, do I? And in regard to the accusations . . . well," he drew his wand and waved it in an elaborate design. A shimmering blue glittery light trailed across the air before it swept over Severus. "What do we know? Severus Snape glows. It's astonishing," the Auror drawled, raising a brow at her. "Almost as if he had the dust from time turners on him, little specks of magic, time, and dust."

Demetri gripped her wand so tight her knuckles turned white, itching to hex the man in front of her. "All that proves is he came into contact with the sand inside of a time turner. And according to Croaker's law, the longest period that can be travelled back in time without serious chance of harm to the traveler or time itself is around five hours." Demetri smirked remembering that bit of information from one of the seminars on time travel Aurora had dragged her to a few years back. "I can vouch that the professor has been in the castle for longer than five hours."

"Oh?" Nevins turned to Severus. "Then you're not dreaming of the future, sir? You don't feel like your head is going to explode? Like you're going mad? Not at all?" His smirk grew at Severus's silence. "Hmm. Fascinating. Well, then, perhaps I'll take my leave. After all, if what she says is true, then you won't start to have trouble differentiating what's real and what's not soon enough."

Demetri glanced at Severus, thinking of his passing out and their earlier conversation.

Severus remained stone-faced, though.

Narrowing her eyes, a thought hit her. She turned back to the man she was itching to hex. "You still have yet to show either of us any solid proof of your claims, sir. You wave your wand and say Severus came into contact with sand from a time turner so he must have then meddled with time. Well, since you seem to know so much about MY area of expertise, maybe you know a little of Severus's?" She had him. She so had him and his smug little smirk. "Like how sand from broken time turners are being used in studies to slow effects of certain potions in America? I can send you some of the information from a former professor if you wish."

The Auror gave a quiet chuckle. "We can continue to piss about this all day if you'd like. Or I could just fix your coworker before permanent brain damage sets in. Your choice, Miss Le Fay."

Demetri raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean fix him?" She flicked her gaze towards Severus, who was still just neutrally staring at the Auror. "Wait. You mean, you're not here to arrest him for something technically he didn't do?"

"Arrest him? I may be an Auror, but I don't have that luxury. Different department than mine. And why punish the one who's trying to clean up the mess of another self, you know? Now," he sighed, pulling out a thin vial of a blue liquid "drink up, Professor."

"Well your Ministry hasn't really given either of us any reason to believe they'd be fair. What, with the attack on Severus earlier. Hex first, ask questions later seems to be the Auror motto"

"I may be part of the Ministry, but as I said separate departments, Miss Le Fay."

"People will still judge the whole by the actions of one. I believe Slytherin house is prime example of that. I've been here less than a week and have already been told to stay clear of the professor here as well as to watch the students in his House like a hawk," she replied before glancing at Severus. He hadn't moved or made any indication that he was even following their conversation as he held the potion in his hand, staring at it.

The Auror snorted. "Don't throw rocks at glass houses, Le Fey," he drawled before he turned away. "You could continue to stare at it, Professor Snape. But that won't help when the timeline decides to continue changing. You're out of sync. That much is clear to see."

He was out of sync? She frowned. With what limited knowledge she had on time travel, she did understand why that would make the most sense with everything he had described. It didn't seem the man was trying to hurt either of them. Maybe then it was safe for Severus to drink the potion?

"Severus?"

The dark-haired man seemed to snap out of it for a brief moment then. "You're an Unspeakable, aren't you, Nevins?" Severus didn't wait for a reply. "It's strange that you'd not just obliviate Demetri and me. Isn't that how your kind usually handles these situations? Sweep it under the rug and pretend it never happened, that is?"

Demetri's head snapped to Nevin's. Well, that would certainly explain why the man had known about the meddling of time. "Who's to say he won't before he leaves?" she retorted, thinking Severus needed someone backing him up.

"He hasn't drawn his wand, Demetri," Severus stated, motioning to the Auror. "And there's also the quaint little fact that they're not known for exchanging such pleasantries usually as he's doing with us," Severus drawled. "In fact, most act more like ghosts, come in and leave unnoticed."

Nevins smiled and tipped his head to him. "I always believed there was a better way to handle these things. Why make people fear us when we can have a quaint conversation like this? Well, that, and I admit I'm intrigued with your whole case."

"There is that I suppose." Demetri cocked her head as a sliver of the earlier conversation her and Severus had come to mind. The man might not entertain it, but she had to know. "I understand if you can't answer, but what are fixed moments when dealing with altering time? Are they simply moments that are not alterable or is there more to it?"

Nevins sighed, clearly bored with her. "Fixed moments are events that would destabilize the entire universe if one were to alter it. Time would, in essence, stop. Literally. You can bend a fixed moment sometimes, but in the end whatever is to happen must happen. Otherwise, it's free reign, and the whole world goes to hell."

Demetri bit her lip as she thought on the man's words. "And there would be no way to know then if a fixed moment was changed until the shit hit the fan then? And even then, we wouldn't know which moment was changed, right?

"Perhaps for you mere mortals, sure, but there are those who study it, who know what Time And Relative Dimension in Space is, the perils of time travel, who breathe time and all her mysteries. Fixed moments are easy to spot if only one knows where to look."

Demetri nodded, again mentally cursing Aurora for roping her into this mess. "And you or those like you would be able to fix the damage or prevent a fixed moment from being altered?"

"If a fixed moment was altered, but it wasn't. The timeline is fixing herself because there's too much residual energy, and it has to burn itself off. People aren't supposed to go back more than five years, you know?"

"No, I didn't know you could actually time travel more than the five hours a time turner would allow actually."

"Actually," Nevins argued in a haughty voice, "you were aware of it. You did mention Croaker's law, a law created after an incident where someone had gone back longer than the five hours. But that's neither here nor there."

"I was just reciting what little I knew of time travel. I just thought Croaker was warning people to not misuse a time turner. If I didn't personally know that time was messed with, I'd still believe it was impossible."

"Are there people who are in tune with time?" Severus asked quietly.

The Auror smirked. "Do you mean, do certain people notice more when time is altered? Let me ask you. Do you notice when a student is stirring clockwise when they should be stirring anti-clockwise?"

He didn't respond. Did he notice that? Yes. But he had strong self-preservation skills, and brats were known for being careless.

"There's an instrument people use sometimes. It holds the first sands of time. And when there's a disturbance, it either slows or speeds up. In this case, it stopped all together. Naturally, someone like me was intrigued. So, I looked for patterns. At first, I thought someone had come back to kill the Dark Lord. But that wasn't it. That was the entrance point."

Demetri stared back at Severus, raising a questioning eyebrow as she spoke to the Unspeakable. "So, then there was a different purpose to the time travel then?"

"Well, seeing as how I didn't meet the traveler, unless you count finding the body in Gringotts." He stepped forward then to Severus and held out a journal. "Normally, it'd be marked as evidence, but again, different department."

"Body?" Demetri spoke quietly to herself. That meant the future Severus had died. It made sense in a morbid way, seeing as how having two of the same person in any timeline could be disastrous. "Where did you get that?" she asked, recognizing the journal's cover. Aurora was always scribbling in that book when they weren't studying.

Severus stared at the journal in confusion. He slowly grabbed it and opened to the first page. When he saw his name in elegant cursive, he closed his eyes. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Well, seeing as how you're in it," Nevins replied with a shrug before he glanced at Demetri. It was clear he wasn't going to answer her.

"It's Aurora's, Severus."

"I'm aware of that," he snapped, his fingers curling around it even tighter as if he was afraid someone would take it from him.

Demetri flinched at his harsh tone. She shook her head before moving back to the counter and pouring herself another drink. She threw back the alcohol, wincing at the bitter taste of the fennel and wormwood.

"It was an interesting read to say the least," Nevins stated. "Only there was a bit of a flaw in the execution, I'm afraid."

She refilled her glass, swirling the liquid in the glass as she asked her question. "What do you mean by a flaw?"

"The binding agent that was used. It was supposed to stabilize, only it seemed to have reacted with something else. Something hidden deep within the agent. Though, she couldn't have taken that into consideration. No one would have ever considered it. And why would they? Ancient magic mixed with time turner sand and blood and the unknown. Recipe for disaster if ever there was one. And the timeline reacted. Tonight in fact. Just a bit ago. It created a fixed point. One that cannot be altered now. It's why you're seeing what you're seeing, Severus. It's punishing you for his deeds, his alterations."

"You telling us time is punishing Severus because of something his future self did? If his future self were alive, would the time line punish _him_ instead?"

"Without a doubt, yes, but there is also the fact of, well," Nevins said, letting his voice trail off for a moment before he added, "spoilers."

"Spoilers?"

"What occurred a bit ago?" Severus cut in.

"Time restarted. Now, drink up. Before you find yourself down a very dark path."

"Wait. What do you mean time restarted? The timeline reestablished itself?"

"With a little help from a friend, yes."

Demetri just nodded. So was that what Aurora was doing in London when everyone thought she was in Italy? But how would she have known that time was altered? Or how to restart it for that matter?

Sighing, Severus gave in and tipped back the vial. Normally, he wasn't a trusting person in the slightest, but if time was punishing him . . .

"Good. Now, that's out of the way. Let's get to the matter at hand. You are a descendent of the Ashmores. A living descendant in fact. What do you know about them?" Nevins then glanced at Demetri. "Either of you."

Demetri shrugged and shook her head. "I don't recall ever hearing that name before. "

Severus, however, sighed and quietly stated, "It was an ancient family who was murdered. Why do you ask?"

"That symbol she drew in there." Nevins pointed at the journal. "It was the only thing left recognizable in the Ashmore home when the Aurors discovered their bodies. So, how is it that your future wife in that universe came to draw _that_ particular symbol? At first, we believed it was a rune. Now, though . . ."

Demetri blinked in surprise at the man's words. Future wife—that explained now why Severus was so desperate to know where Aurora was earlier. His future self must have told him about their future relationship. But by doing that he was altering the timeline even further, though.

"I don't follow."

"That symbol, Severus, was carved into the side of the Ministry earlier this evening. Now, my superiors are, as they say, livid. I, however, am naturally just neutral, so... But you see, I went to speak with all those who have come into contact with your future self. All of them. And it wasn't until I saw the drawing at St. Mungo's that I connected the dots."

"Could it be someone who knows of Severus's connection to the Ashmore family and trying to set him up with all these symbols?"

"Perhaps, but—now, forgive me but here I'm going to draw my wand—don't hex." Nevins drew his wand before he traced an intricate pattern into the air, a jet of light trailing behind to show the design. Once he connected the circle, one of the nearby windows burst and the candles and fireplace extinguished, plunging them in instant darkness.

"What the hell!" Demetri drew her own wand but it was knocked out of her hand as Merlin, her cat, let out an ungodly meow and hiss from the kitchen before jumping into her arms.

The room seemed to flicker for a moment before another version of it appeared. This one had a portrait of Phineas Nigellus hanging above the fireplace. A large banner of the night sky hung on one of the walls now. Pictures of friends and family, one of Demetri in fact, were on shelves and end tables. The room then flickered again.

This time the room was empty. No portraits hung. No pictures were anywhere. It was just a cold dark, vacant room. Devoid of all life. And yet in the middle of the floor there was the same symbol Nevins had created with his wand earlier. As they stared at it longer, a thick, red fluid filled the carving before flames shot up out of it.

Once more the room flickered, and it had returned to Demetri's layout minus the symbol and blood-red flames.

"It was carved into St. Mungo's, the Ministry, Hogsmeade, and a dozen or so other places. With more sightings popping up every day."

"What is it?" Demetri asked, stroking the still-terrified cat in her arms. She made another mental note to add a good hex or two when she saw Aurora again. She had to be connected to this all somehow if the room just revealed it was hers in the original timeline. Wait. Could that be it? Blinking at the sudden realization, she glanced at the Unspeakable. "It's a marker, right? Showing where an event from the original timeline was altered?"

"Perhaps, but then we've got a lot of events being altered. More than the ones that I know his future self altered. And some of these go way back in time. Before Severus, Dumbledore, others. I found one carved into the boathouse earlier. Another was at the house of James and Lily Potter's. A row house in Cokeworth just a few blocks down from Severus's parents' home in fact."

"Could they be showing deaths or places someone's died then?" she inquired, remembering reading about the Potters' deaths in the Salem paper. It had made international news as they were connected to the death of Voldemort himself.

"At this point, I honestly do not know. And neither do my colleagues. Which is why I'm here. The timeline is altering itself because of your future self's meddling in it, Severus. With him no longer here, it decided to punish you instead, which is normal. However, the symbols, though, keep popping up. It's connected. The symbols, the future Severus, the alterations that are taking place. I just don't know how. And I was hoping you did."

Severus and Demetri glanced at one another and shrugged.

"The girl is right for once to an extent," a voice suddenly called out from above the mantle.

Demetri sighed before glaring at Morgana, who had returned to her portrait sometime during the conversation. "Morgana, now is not the time."

"You want answers do you not?" the portrait asked, raising a painted eyebrow. When the occupants of the room nodded, she smirked.

"Runes were not always magical in origin; they were once a language used by many ancient civilizations. It wasn't until someone figured out that adding magic to a rune made them become much more. They became a visual anchor to whatever spell was attached. A symbol of protection or warning depending on the caster's intent." She glanced at Severus. "Dark Wizards like Voldemort or Grindelwald took that theory a step further with symbols to strike fear into those who'd oppose them as well as mark those loyal to them."

Demetri sighed. "We know this already. Some of us learned this in first year Runes."

"But did you learn that there are certain runes that Magic itself created? The earth is covered in them, if you know what to look for." She looked at the Unspeakable before continuing. "That rune you see cropping up everywhere is called Fate's Warning. They are markers of sorts of events that the Fates have set to happen, like the fixed moments you spoke of. They are showing up now because someone had meddled with time in such an egregious manner. Only those the event pertains to can activate the rune to see what was to be and what was changed. You, Mr. Nevins, and other Unspeakables are an exception, of course, as are true Seers."

"And you know all of this how?" Demetri asked

"The first time I saw that was in the caverns below Camelot when I reset time in order to become queen and keep Arthur from returning from a quest. While I only went back a day, it was enough to leave a mark."

"You attempted to change a fixed point," Nevins stated with a scoff of astonishment. "You're lucky Time didn't send you to your death or worse. Now, if you'll forgive me, I must speak with my colleagues concerning this new information." He tipped his head to them respectfully. "Professors." Without another word, the man left the rooms.

Severus rubbed the back of his neck and bit back a sigh. He didn't feel as muddled as he had earlier. In fact, ever since he had drunk that potion Nevins had given him, he felt fine. He couldn't recall any knowledge of Aurora that he didn't know already. In fact, the memories he had seen earlier in his dream world seemed to start to fade a bit. He couldn't recall what she smelled like anymore. Or when his future self and she had started courting one another.

"Do you think we should worry?" Demetri asked quietly. "About Nevins knowing what we know?" Her eyes searched his.

"Perhaps, but he did provide us with some information as well."

"What?"

"Oh, keep up, will you? How you're my blood is beyond me. Honestly," Morgana huffed. "Nevins practically connected the dots for you. What with his frequent mentioning of Time, the markers, and Ashmores. They're connected obviously, silly girl. He all but declared it." Morgana then sighed heavily. "I apologize for her, Severus. She gets that from her mother's side obviously."

"It's better than a cursed last name from your side," Demetri snapped, glaring at the portrait.

Severus raised a brow before he slowly moved to stand.

"Are you sure that's wise?" Demetri questioned, moving to offer him a hand.

"Probably not, but I should get back. By now my father probably has taught Harrison every card trick in the book and then some." Not to mention, he was starting to miss both of them.

"You really think you can make it down all those stairs?"

"It's not the first time I was in a weakened state and needed to get back," he admitted quietly.

Demetri sighed, biting her lip. "You are more than welcome to stay here on the couch, but if you insist on going back to your own rooms, I'm going with you. I'd never forgive myself if you killed yourself falling down the stairs out of sheer stubbornness."

"Scared of Aurora, are you?" he said with a soft laugh.

She snorted. "There is that, too."

"Well, I suppose if you're willing to be seen with the nasty bat of the dungeons, I'll agree. After all, I'm not the new professor this year. I don't need to create a reputation."

She laughed. "I know the nasty bat isn't so bad once you get to know him."

"Eh." He waved his hand. "I'm having an off day, obviously."

"Uh huh." She smiled before linking her arm through his as she wandlessly opened the door.

Slowly, they made their way down the winding staircase. She paused every now and then when he seemed to stumble. It took a bit, but eventually, they found themselves in the damp dungeons heading towards the portrait that hid his rooms. However, the portrait opened without either of them saying a word much to their shock.

Tobias raised a brow at both as he stepped outside of the rooms.

Demetri blushed, feeling like a teenager who just got caught by her father breaking curfew. "It's a long story."

"Usually is when a girl and boy get together, lass," Tobias replied with a smirk. He then gently grabbed his son's other side, taking more of his weight from Demetri.

Demetri didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at the words. "That's not what I meant."

"Daddy!" screamed a relieved little boy inside, running towards them. Little Harrison clearly had been enjoying a piece of chocolate cake not too long ago as it was smeared all over his face. The boy's hazel eyes then darted to Demetri. He stopped in mid-step, his mouth dropping. "Is Mummy?" he asked breathlessly, staring at her.

Demetri glanced at Severus before she smiled at the little boy. She let go of Severus's arm to crouch down to Harrison's level. "No, I'm not Mommy. My name is Demetri."

"Ebti?" the little boy repeated before he glanced at his dad. He frowned for a second and turned back to her. A soft smile reached his face. With a slightly hesitant step, he hugged her before he moved to Severus.

Demetri smiled at the boy and hugged him back before standing again.

"Daddy, I gots 'ake!"

She glanced at Tobias. "You gave a two-year-old cake?"

"No..." Tobias's voice trailed off. "The elf did. I just didn't stop 'im."

Demetri laughed. "That elf is in trouble when the boy's sugar high kicks in"

"More like, my father is," Severus drawled, wincing when his dad gently helped him into a high-backed recliner.

"Yeah, yeah." Tobias then picked Harrison up and handed the little boy to Severus. "Watch your dad for me, lad. Will ya?" He didn't wait for Harrison's reply. "I'll see ya out, Demetri."

With a small smile and wave to Harrison and a concerned look at Severus, Demetri followed Tobias to the door.

They stepped outside of the room a moment later.

"Normally, I'd apologize for my boy's behavior, cause he likely went off on ya for somethin' I said, but it seems it's all good. I don't want the details. I just—thank you, Demetri. Yer a good lass."

She smiled at him. "Yeah, well, I've come to realize his bark is a bit bigger than his bite." She then sighed softly. "He did apologize for his earlier comments and attitude, and we've come to a truce of sorts." She glanced at the closed door. "Keep an eye on him, though. We had an unexpected guest tonight and with the attack and potion he took a while ago, he's not really a hundred percent."

Tobias snorted. "And here I thought ya just really worked him over." He inclined his head. "Always, lass."

Demetri blushed again at the older man's insinuation. "I'm not one to kiss and tell, Tobias. A woman has to have some secrets." She smirked before turning to leave. "If he gives you a hard time or his weakness gets worse, let me know?"

"I will."

"Thank you." She hugged him briefly before heading back to the main part of the castle. She had a family to research it seemed.


	6. Explosive Consequences

**Explosive Consequences**

Groaning at the warmth against his face, Severus rolled over and buried his head underneath a pillow. No. The sun couldn't be up yet. It was much too early for that. As he nuzzled further into his warm bed, he felt himself start to drift back asleep. Just five more minutes of peace. That was all he required. Then once those five minutes of tranquility passed, he could return to reality.

"Should I come back? Or do you need another moment fondling your pillow alone?"

Severus nearly shot up from his bed at the sound of his mother's voice. His eyes flew open, and his breath caught in the back of his throat. Unconsciously, he tightened his grip on his pillow before he released it and stared into his mother's dark eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"And a hello to you as well, brat," she replied with rolled eyes and a sigh. "Now, get up. Your father made breakfast."

"What?"

Her hands went to her hips, and she stared down at him as if he was an idiot. "You may have been attacked and God knows what else, but I know there's nothing wrong with your hearing." She then shook her head and sighed heavily before she grabbed a black terry robe from a hook on the wall near her. Without a word, she tossed it at him, hitting him in the face with it. Experience taught him that she had done this on purpose. "Unless you want to sulk in here all day and miss your first day of school, that is?" She turned away from him and stalked out of his room, leaving him alone again.

First day of school? He then bit back a groan. That was right. The brats would be coming back today for the Start-of-Term Feast. He would have to resume his annual torture session that was called 'teaching' them. With his shoulders sagging a bit, he swung his legs over the side of his bed and pushed himself up off the mattress. He supposed he should at least make an appearance.

He tossed the terry robe back onto his bed, though. There was no way in hell he was going out in to his sitting room in a robe. At least not with his parents there. He quickly dressed in a pair of navy jeans, a black button-down shirt, and his usual dragon hide boots.

The moment he reopened his bedroom door, the scents of bacon, eggs, waffles, and a half-dozen other scents assaulted his nostrils. What was his dad feeding, an army? No doubt, the house elves were going to be in an uproar about this as well. They found it their life mission to make sure he never went hungry. As he passed Harrison's bedroom, he paused for half-a-moment and glanced in, finding the room empty. No doubt, Grandpa Tobias and Grandmum Eileen had woken the little rascal up earlier.

Sure enough, when he rounded the corner, he heard the loud squeal from his son.

"Daddy!"

Severus chuckled quietly when the little boy launched himself at him full speed. How this little brat had so much love was beyond him. He bent down and picked Harrison up, smiling when his son kissed his cheek and wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Have you been good for Grandpa and Grandmum?" he asked his son.

"I's very good, Daddy."

"Oh?"

Harrison grinned and then babbled on about something Severus only half understood. However, when he caught Tobias's nod, he knew that the short answer was 'Yes.'

"An owl came for you earlier," Eileen stated coolly, pushing a small parcel across the tabletop towards him. "Harrison tried shaking that package to see if it was breakable, but it seems to have held together surprisingly enough."

Knowing his mother as well as he did, Severus understood that she was being sarcastic. There was no way in hell she'd let her only grandchild put himself in harm's way. No. Knowing Eileen, she likely had done every Dark Spell revelation charm she knew before she'd even let Harrison be in the same room as that package.

He set his son into the high-chair beside his own chair at the island in the kitchen then, charming the high-chair to ensure Harrison would be safe in it. Once he was convinced his son was fine, he sat next to the boy.

"Well?"

Glancing at his mother, he frowned. "What?"

"Aren't you going to open it?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Later." He reached for the stack of waffles and promptly had his hands slapped as a result. "What the hell, Mother?"

"Open it first, then you can eat."

"Why?"

"Because your son won't be able to concentrate on his bacon unless you do," she replied matter-of-factly. "Now, be a good boy and do as you're told."

Severus frowned before he glanced at his dad.

"Oh, yeah, no. I'm just the cook here," Tobias declared, holding his hands up in the air.

Groaning, Severus realized that there was no way he was going to win this argument, so he gave in. Grabbing the parcel, he ripped open into the brown wrapping. When he saw the box underneath, his brows furrowed. Gently, he lifted the lid and glanced inside.

"A bottle of wine? That's it? Well, that was disappointing," Eileen huffed, turning away from him and the small half-bottle.

Rolling his eyes, Severus carefully removed the bottle and inspected it. It was a bottle of elf wine. Top shelf variety too, he noticed. He then saw the note at the bottom of the box. Setting down the bottle, he pulled out the note and opened it, recognizing the elegant handwriting again.

_Severus,_

_I didn't think 'Sorry' was a good enough apology for how we left things the other day, so figured your favorite bottle would do. At least according to Madam Rosmerta and Tom, this is your favorite. If not, sorry about that as well. Anyway, hope you're feeling better._

_Aurora Sinistra_

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He could imagine her hand running through her tight curls as she wrote this. Her nervousness was clearly apparent with every word.

"How we left things the other day?" Eileen read over his shoulder.

The young man snapped shut the letter and sighed, glancing at her.

"Do you mind, Mother?" he drawled.

"Who's this 'Aurora Sinistra'?" She turned towards her husband when her son didn't answer. "Tobias?"

"A lass who fancies our son," his dad answered. "Ya met her last spring when we were in London gettin' ice cream."

"Did I? I don't recall."

"It was the lass who's face fell when she saw Harrison."

Severus frowned.

"Oh, well." Eileen stood a bit taller then. "And to think I almost sent her a letter back asking her to meet me for tea one of these days."

"Just because she reacted to seeing Harrison, it doesn't mean she's a bad person, Mother."

"No? Then you want to be with someone who doesn't accept your son?"

"That's not what happened at all. None of us know what was going through her head. Yes, she may have seemed a bit disappointed when she saw him, but that doesn't mean anything, Mother."

"It means that your son's not good enough in her eyes because—"

"Or it could just mean that what she thought she knew about me was different from what she was expecting. It wasn't like she totally wrote me off after that, though. She still cares for me."

"Because she sent you a bottle of wine?" Eileen replied with a scoff.

"No, because she defended me, Mother, stood up for me when I was unable to after my attack. She brought me here to Hogwarts, in fact. She could have taken me anywhere in the world, but she brought me back here."

"Oh, how wonderful for her. To bring you back to the death trap that is Hogwarts. How grand."

Severus opened his mouth to retort some particularly spiteful things when he quickly closed it again at the sight of little Harrison's head whipping back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. He'd continue this later. When there weren't small ears around.

"You have a guest outside. Shall I inform her that you're otherwise occupied?" Salazar stated from his portrait above the mantel.

"Who is it?"

"Miss Le Fey," Salazar replied coolly.

"Who?" Eileen said, glancing at Tobias.

"Another lass, El. Brought Severus up to the castle yesterday and here last night when he was too weak to walk."

Severus caught his mother's surprised look. "Just how many women do you have in your life nowadays anyway?"

"I'm not even going to dignify that asinine question with a response, Mother." He then redirected his attention to the portrait. "Let her in, Salazar." He turned to the door, pushing himself off his stool to stand as Demetri walked inside.

The younger witch stopped short, though, glancing at the family sitting around the table. "I'm sorry to interrupt. I was just on my way down to the Great Hall when I ran into the Harpy of the Hospital Wing." She smoothed over the front of her skirt nervously before she continued. "She was on her way down here to no doubt tell you off for escaping her clutches yesterday. I told her I was coming here to see if you're all right, though, and she gave me these and told me to tell you that you can't hide from her forever." She knew she was rambling and chalked it up to today being the first day of the term. Actual classes wouldn't start until tomorrow, but she'd meet the students tonight at the Opening Feast. She pulled out two potion bottles and handed them to Severus.

Severus smiled softly at her, grabbing the bottles. "Thank you, Demetri."

Another voice behind him unfortunately spoke as well. "So, Demetri is it?"

Severus whirled around and caught his mother's predatory smile.

"I hear you're the one to thank for saving my son. I don't suppose you're single, are you? Because my son here has wretched taste in women."

"Mother!"

Demetri glanced from Severus to his mother, returning the woman's smile hesitantly "I am," she replied, not confirming which question she was actually answering. "Maybe he hasn't dated the right women yet. He'd need someone who can take his snark and give it back tenfold."

"Yes, well, if you're both finished," Severus replied huffily before he drank both bottles of green and blue potions.

"Clearly you're just the woman—"

"Mother, enough!"

Eileen rolled her eyes and waved her hand. "As you can see, he doesn't accept help readily. Would you like to join us, dear? We were just about to open this bottle of pathetic wine he received. Oh, who am I kidding? Of course, you do. Sit. Please." She motioned next to the empty chair beside Severus, clearly not going to take 'no' as an answer.

"Oh, trust me I've found out firsthand just how well he receives help from others." Demetri sat at the table and raised an eyebrow at Severus, who was staring at her looking none-too-pleased with her. "But, I found his bark to be bigger than his bite."

Eileen's smile grew. "I like this one, Severus." She then leaned towards Demetri. "What are your thoughts on children?"

Demetri knew she shouldn't pander to the woman, but she was having fun watching Severus squirm. Payback was a bitch, and he owed her. "I love children. I'm an only child and have always pictured myself having a big family of my own."

Eileen clapped her hands together like a child getting her Christmas wish. "Excellent. Hear that, Tobias? She wants a big family as well."

"Mother!" Severus snarled, throwing down his napkin.

"Oh, hush, dear. Your mother's chatting with your future wife."

"Eileen," Tobias said with a sigh, crossing his arms at her.

"What? From what I see, Demetri is ten times better than this other witch. She at least brought him to receive medical aid. I mean, honestly, a bottle of wine as an apology? Please. As if one could buy forgiveness."

Demetri glanced at Severus, her brows furrowing in confusion. "Other witch?"

Severus scoffed. "Mother is referring to Aurora, whom she's under the impression will be the next Dark Mistress."

"Aurora, a dark Mistress?" Demetri snorted. "You're more likely to be a centerfold for—"

"I was, dear," Eileen cut in. "Miss April," she stated, gesturing to herself. Her grin widened as she rolled her eyes at her son's gagging. She then adopted a more business-like tone. "So, you know this other witch then?"

Demetri cocked her head, not expecting that answer. "Uh, yeah, I know Aurora. We went to university together. She actually helped me get the job here. Well, sort of. She told me to apply at least."

Eileen's eyes narrowed on her. "She got you the job here? Why?" She then waved her hand. "Actually, I don't care. She clearly is the reason for this incredible unlucky streak my family has been having lately." She turned to Severus and gently tapped the top of his head. "Why can't you just be with a good girl like Demetri?"

Demetri frowned, though, unable to let Eileen's words go without argument. "I doubt Aurora is the cause of any of this. She actually saved him from his attackers."

"Yes, so he says. I'll believe her purity once she shows herself." Eileen sighed heavily.

Demetri narrowed her eyes. "She told me of the attack herself when she had me come get him from the gates. And in all the years I've known her, I have never known Aurora to be a liar."

Eileen seemed to have grown tired of the subject, changing it a moment later. "So, other then checking up on my son, any other plans today, dear?" she asked Demetri suddenly.

Demetri glanced at Severus before she shrugged. "I don't have plans as of yet, but the day did just start."

"That it has, dear." Eileen beamed, clearly thrilled with her answer.

"Actually, Demetri and I must be going, Mother," Severus cut in, moving to stand. "We have a meeting with the Headmistress that I just recalled." He paused for half a moment to kiss the top of his son's head and inclined his head to his father. "So, if you'll excuse us." He was almost to the door when he snatched his teaching robes and threw them on. It seemed to be then when he noticed that he was the only one leaving. He turned back. "Demetri, aren't you coming?" he called back to her, giving her a hard stare that screamed that he'd hex her if she didn't get a move on it.

Demetri nodded before she slid off the chair and stood. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Snape." She smiled at Tobias and gently ruffled Harrison's hair before she followed Severus out.

As soon as they were out of sight and hearing range, Severus sighed heavily. "I apologize for that just now. Mother tends to act like a lunatic whenever someone new is around."

She laughed. "I can see where you get it from now. I'm sorry if I stirred the pot with playing along with her questions, but I think it more than makes up for you ranting and raving at me last night."

He paused, glancing at her. "Get what?" He frowned. "If you're referring to my sarcasm, you're grossly mistaken." He bristled at her insinuation before he continued down the darkened corridor.

She sighed. She hadn't meant to upset him. He was just so touchy sometimes. "Remind me to keep Morgana away from your mother," she stated quietly. Maybe she could change the mood again. "Or else we'd be married off before dinner, and our firstborn would be named already." She caught his frown deepen. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say on second thought.

"I'm not looking for love or to be married or anything like that. It's not why I'm doing this, Demetri. No matter what she or anyone else states." He glanced at her. "Do you understand? I don't even know Aurora really. And the memories I received—it doesn't make it fair really. Not to mention, my mother is unfortunately correct in the fact that Aurora is not here. She..." He sighed, running a hand through his hair as his voice trailed off.

She held up her hands in front of her. "You really need to learn how to take a joke, Severus, or you'll give yourself a stroke or something flying off the handle all the time."

"I don't like this, Demetri. Not one bit."

She sighed. There really was no way to get him out of his melancholy mood, was there? "I get it, and I can't even imagine what you're going through right now. I can't stand to see my friends hurt or in distress and not know how to fix it."

He pinched his lips together as they continued up the stairs to the main castle.

She sighed as he got quiet, mentally kicking herself for making him mad again. How the hell was she supposed to help him when he was just so emo all the time? Honestly.

It was a good minute before he finally sighed as well and spoke again. He made sure not to look at her when he spoke. "I had another dream about her again last night. Likely one of his memories." His voice was low as if he was afraid of someone overhearing.

She glanced at him, moving closer when he spoke to hear him better. "Was it a good memory?"

He glanced at her before he glanced down at his feet dejectedly. "Depends on your definition of good, I suppose." He stuck his hand in his pocket.

It took everything in her not to throttle him right then. As it was, she replied neutrally, "I know you're a smart man, so you know what the definition of good is. Now, you wouldn't have brought it up if you didn't want to talk about it."

"We were just laughing in it, Demetri. That's it. Just laughing as if everything was perfect." He wet his lips and frowned even more. "She was pregnant, so it had to be near when . . ." His voice trailed off again before he closed his eyes. "I've barely said more than a dozen or so words with her in the entire time that I've known her. And yet, right now, I feel so angry, worried, helpless. I don't like this feeling." He shook his head again. "I've tried removing the memories. Bottled them up and hid them away. But the feelings are still there."

"Do you think that's wise? The emotions are attached to those memories and without them," she shrugged, "well, it can't be good for you, Severus."

"It's better than Oblivating myself," he mused aloud.

"I highly doubt it."

He stopped and reached for her arm before he thought better of it and let his hand drop. "What am I going to do when she does show up? How am I going to face her when I have all this . . . intimate knowledge of her, knowledge I shouldn't have, Demetri?"

"Talk to her. Be you. This you, Severus." She tapped his chest once before she dropped her hand to her side again. "You already mean a great deal to her from the stories she shared of her time here. She saved your ass in London, too, and made sure you weren't left here alone without an ally." She shrugged. "You don't have to marry her or jump into a relationship the moment she returns, though. None of us are expecting that. Well, none of us that know what really is going on." She sighed. "To be honest, we don't know what was changed when the timeline reset. We really don't. And your future self, well, he's proof that the future really isn't set in stone."

"Yes, but there are consequences from his actions. Consequences we're just now starting to feel." He sighed, shaking his head. They were rounding the corner when a loud boom reverberated from somewhere nearby. He quickly grabbed her to yank her back as a part of the castle came crashing down. Another loud sound exploded across the way from them. Speaking of consequences . . .

Demetri stumbled into him, grabbing a fistful of his robes as he pulled her away from the blast. She fumbled in her robes for her wand. She barely got a Shield charm around them before the second explosion occurred.

"What the hell is going on?" she yelled, her heart beating wildly in her throat.

He shook his head. "I don't know!" His eyes darted to the dungeons before he inhaled sharply at what he saw. "No." He turned back to her with a slightly horrified look before he blinked it back. There was no time for fear. Not now. "We need to evacuate the school. Get Filch and the others. Use the tunnels that lead to Hogsmeade. They know the tunnels like the backs of their hands." He then ran towards the dungeons, blasting aside the rubble that had fallen.

"Be careful!" she shouted after him as she made her way to the caretaker's office in the opposite direction of him.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. The timeline had to be reacting to something again. But what? What could it possibly be reacting to this time? He slashed his wand violently in the air towards another large hunk of stone that hindered his progress. When it cracked and split a moment later, he crawled in between the chucks and rushed down the corridor littered with debris. His feet splashed as he started running through water that had puddled on the floor. One of the windows must have been destroyed in the blast, he assumed.

As he neared the portrait that guarded his rooms, he found himself slowing and his grip tightening on his wand. Someone was standing outside of his rooms, clearly having expected him.

"Get out of the way," he snarled at the unknown person, raising his wand threateningly.

"Put that away," replied the unknown man, flicking his hand at Severus dismissively.

The man's spell slammed hard into Severus's chest and threw him back against a nearby wall. as he stared down at him, the man's lip curled upwards, disappearing into his scruffy beard.

"Your girlfriend's not here to save you this time, Professor. It's just you and me." The man stalked towards him, a knife slowly sliding down into his hand as he approached menacingly. His sterling gray eyes bore holes into him.

Severus tried to scramble to his feet, only to find himself unable to move. His dark eyes widened, and he tried to work out which curse the man had used on him in order to find its countercurse. His mind was racing. There had to be a curse used.

"You destroyed the Prime timeline. Fucked it up royally in fact. And for what? So, you can get in your bitch girlfriend's knickers sooner this time?" The man scoffed, bending down and glaring at him. "Do you understand all the trouble you've caused, Professor? What we have to do now in order to fix your superb screw up of the timeline? All these deaths, all of the blood spilled, all of it, is on your hands." The man sneered, his yellowing teeth glowing from what little light there was.

Blood? What blood? Severus's black eyes darted to the empty portrait of Salazar. He could see the water pooling out from underneath the portrait, and he felt his stomach drop.

"Oh, sure, there's people like Nevins who think this is a wonderful opportunity," the man continued. "That you deserve a little bit of happiness after all that you've gone through in your pathetic life. But he doesn't know what _we_ know. What you've awakened with your meddling. We had a good thing going here until you came along." He brought a hand up and swept his reddish-brown bangs to the side and out of his eyes. "A really good thing, but now you've gone and fucked it up." The man scowled before he grabbed a fistful of Severus's robes and yanked him closer. "You just had to go and do that, didn't you, Professor? You couldn't just leave things the way they were." He then tossed him back and scoffed. "Well, then, like the Prime timeline, we'll just have to let you watch your family die once again. Won't we?"

Severus's black eyes darted to the man. This man knew what had happened in his Future's timeline? His eyes searched the man's robes to find the Ministry insignia, but he found none.

"Let's see how you handle that again. I'm guessing you'll eat your wand the minute you see their bodies." The man's terrible grin grew. "Too bad I can't get the bitch here as well, but they'll have to do." He turned back to the portrait when it started to groan and bulge. "I'd say they've been without oxygen for at least a minute or two now." He shrugged. "Pity. The boy was cute after all. But then again, he shouldn't have been near _you_."

Severus growled, fighting against the spell that held him in place. He wanted to rip the man's head off. Tear him apart limb by limb. Never before did he wish he could kill someone as much as he did now. The man deserved it and then some. His anger increased as the man laughed merrily, as if the whole thing was just an innocent joke.

"Until next time, Professor Snape," the man drawled, leaning in dangerously close to him before he rushed down the corridor and disappeared around a corner a moment later.

None of the damn countercurses were working. Not a single one of the goddamn things was. He was stuck against the wall and floor. He couldn't even move his head for Merlin's sake. He knew he had his magic. He could feel it bubbling inside him. No. It wouldn't be like this. It wasn't supposed to be for fuck's sake! Why the hell was it always him? Hadn't he paid enough? Hadn't he— He gasped when a sudden, unexpected pain rippled through him.

His vision started to blur, and the corridor in front of him started to move in and out of focus. He drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. What was going on? Was he dying? Was that what was happening? He didn't feel like he was, but he certainly did feel strange.

When he reopened his eyes, he saw Salazar staring at him from the portrait. The bulge from before was gone, and the only one groaning now was himself. Even the water had seemed to stop pouring out from the bottom of the portrait now. Severus let his head fall back against the cool, stone wall and stared upwards at the ceiling. Idly, he noticed he had moved, but it didn't fully register.

Another ripple of pain coursed through his veins. He tensed and gasped. It was like a hundred tiny needles sticking him all over at once. Footsteps vaguely entered his ears, but it sounded so far away that he didn't pay much attention to it. He had to keep fighting. He had to. His family needed him. They were—something. Why couldn't he recall what it was now?

He closed his eyes again. The symbol of Fate's Warning Morgana had informed them about flashing rapidly behind his eyes on a never-ending cycle. He could see it carved into the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and half a dozen other places he couldn't readily identify. They flashed faster and faster until finally it was all just a big blur of flames in a large room with a crystal in the middle that contained the four Houses' colors.

"I told you once before, Severus, that your story wasn't quite finished yet," an amused voice purred from somewhere off in the distance. Or maybe it was in his mind. It was too hard to tell anymore. Everything felt so far away now. "Hush, my boy. All is well. Help is always provided at Hogwarts if one asks."

All was well? What drugs was this person on? His family was . . . He groaned when he saw familiar blue eyes stare into his suddenly. Tobias? There was another voice. Quieter than the first. He tried to concentrate on it, but the voice remained just whispers.

"It was nothing more than a trick what he showed you earlier. They're all fine," the first voice explained. "And you need not worry about him getting too far. I've taken care of that piece of rubbish once and for all. So, rest, my dear Severus."

Rest? How could he rest? While he now saw his father's face, he couldn't really understand anything that was going on. And it seemed his dad didn't hear the other voice either. Just Severus did.

"Daddy?"

Harrison? His head whipped towards the sound, seeing the boy uninjured and safe, slowly approach with Eileen beside him. They were safe. But . . .

"Rest now. It'll make sense later," replied the first voice quietly.

* * *

When Severus came to several hours later, he found himself in a strange bedroom. The walls were a horrid flowery design pieced together haphazardly. It was as if the decorator had run out of wallpaper halfway through and just started grabbing whatever was nearby. He slowly rolled over, wincing gingerly when he felt a sudden stabbing pain in the left side of his abdomen. He moved his hand to where he had felt the pain, his fingers soon brushing against the thick fabric dressing that had been wrapped around his abdomen.

His eyes then narrowed before he pulled back the covers fully and glanced down. When he saw the tinge of red on the white dressings on the left side, he closed his eyes and let the covers fall back down. He had been injured it seemed.

"You're awake. Good," his mother said quietly, slowly walking into the room with a glass of water in her hand. "How do you feel?"

"Where are we?" he asked instead.

"Far away from the castle and everything," she replied, her lips pursing as she sat down beside him. "Now, answer my question. How do you feel?"

"All right, I guess." His dark eyes narrowed on her. "Where's Dad and Harrison?" The questions then pooled out of him. "And Demetri? And the others? Is everyone all right?" His heart contracted when he saw her eyes fall to the floor. "Mum?"

"Tobias is with Harrison in the sitting room, keeping him occupied with a game of Go Fish or something. And Demetri, she's fine as well. She's in a nearby room."

"And the others?" he repeated, his eyes taking note of her every nonverbal cue.

"Bumps and scrapes for the most part. All except for a Professor Trelawney, I'm afraid."

"Sybil?"

His mother inclined her head slowly. "When the first explosion occurred, she was walking down the stairs in her tower. When the second explosion happened, it sent parts of the Astronomy tower into hers and, well, she didn't make it. We'll leave it at that." She set the glass of water on the night stand beside him.

He may not have gotten along with the Divinations professor, but he was saddened to hear of her passing. Sighing, he gently pushed himself upright and back against the headboard.

"What about the man that attacked me?"

Eileen's face broke out into a nasty grin almost instantly. Clearly, she was gleeful about whatever had happened to him.

"According to Minerva, he was found dead on one of the statue's spears in the farthest corridor in the dungeons. She believes he bled to death slowly, which I'll sleep just fine knowing."

"He's dead?" Severus repeated, staring at her with his mouth hanging open slightly. How would he know how that man knew all that he knew now?

"He is."

"He was an Unspeakable, Mother."

"I don't care if he was the Minister of Magic himself, Severus. He attacked you and died. I will shed no tears for him I assure you."

"He knew, though, Mum. He knew that my future self had come back; that he had seen his future wife and unborn child die in front of him. He knew!"

"And that gave him the right to attack you? No, Severus. It didn't. I don't care what your future self did. You're not him. You're just the unfortunate boy who has to clean up his mess."

"But, Mum!"

"But nothing, Severus," she replied harshly, frowning at him. "You didn't go back in time. Your future self did! There's no reason the Ministry should be punishing you for what another version of you did. None whatsoever!"

"The fact remains, though, that they are! This is the second attack I've had! The second one, Mum! Do you understand that?"

"Of course I do, you silly boy! Why else would I have brought you here?"

"You think this crappy cottage is going to hide me from them?" he asked, scoffing. "In their eyes, I committed some horrible crime and ruined the status quo for the Ministry. That's what he claimed I did. Why he was justified in the attack."

"He's wrong, though," a voice spoke up from the doorway.

Severus's eyes darted to the entryway, and he involuntarily tensed when he saw Nevins.

"Yes, your future self did ruin the Department of Mysteries spectacularly, but he was wrong, Professor Snape." Nevins remained where he was when Eileen glared daggers at him. "Our way of doing things is wrong."

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Eileen hissed at the Auror.

"Considering the Ministry, Hogwarts, St. Mungo's, Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and you-name-it is either destroyed or heavily damaged, no, I don't," Nevins replied with a polite smile.

"They're destroyed?" Severus repeated, staring at him.

"Each of them suffered heavy damage earlier. In St. Mungo's case, there's not a hospital left. Nor is there a Ministry currently."

"What happened?"

"Well, at first I theorized that it had to be the timeline reacting to something and lashing out violently." Severus had thought the same thing earlier. It seemed, though, that they both had been wrong. He waited for Nevins to continue. "However, upon further inspection of the damage at St. Mungo's and Ministry, I've now corrected that theory and believe it has less to do with the timeline and more to do with the Ministry's dirty little secret."

"What?" Severus frowned in confusion. "What dirty little secret?"

Eileen huffed, throwing her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Who cares, Severus? It's the Ministry's problem, not ours."

"Actually considering your son is an Ashmore, Eileen . . ."

"Oh, please! No one cares about that line anymore," she groused. "It's Ashmores this, Ashmores that. What's so good about them anyway? They were murdered."

"There should not be a living ancestor to the Ashmores, as you well know. And yet here in this very cottage are two."

"So, what?" she threw back.

"Someone in the Ministry doesn't want that to get out, Eileen."

"Again, not _our_ problem," she replied flatly, crossing her arms.

"It is your problem when the good-ol'-boys of the Ministry are attacking your son because of it."

"Why would the Ministry not want that to come out?" Severus asked, interrupting them. Honestly, they were arguing over the stupidest thing ever. That wasn't the most important question. "Just because it would show they were wrong and Ismerelda did survive?"

Nevins rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Best guess?" Severus nodded to him. "I'd say that it was Aurors who murdered the Ashmores in the first place."

"What?" Eileen and Severus both said.

Severus glanced at his mother, noticing that she too was now looking at him. The Ministry had killed them? It was preposterous. The Ministry of Magic would do many things to protect itself, lock innocent people up in Azkaban just for starters, but to sanction a massacre of a family?

Nevins shrugged. "It's the only thing that makes the most sense."

"What's your evidence?"

"You've been attacked twice now by rogue elements in the Ministry. Both of which were unfortunately upon further inspection discovered to have been from the Department of Mysteries. I can't tell which departments they were from, just that I know they're not from mine, but their credentials stated the Unspeakable title so that's for sure. Now, while I admit that it is rather annoying to have to constantly correct the timeline thanks to your future self's muddling of it, neither me nor my two colleagues would attack you for it."

"Why?"

"Why?" Nevins repeated before he gave a big laugh. "If it wasn't for your future self, we'd still be seeing the effects of Voldemort on Time itself. You know, since he went against Time and, hell, fate itself in order to remain alive. If you could call what he was doing living, that is. And trust me, that whole debacle with him wasn't pretty. Every single department was affected. Not that we talked about it with other departments, but I digress. We'll take the minor alterations, Severus, over that any day."

"So, what you're claiming is that no one in the Time department of the Department of Mysteries attacked my son, correct?"

"Exactly," Nevins replied with a smile.

"Forgive me, but that sounds like a load of crap if ever I heard it. You may not have—"

"Eileen, why would we attack your son? Because his future self came back to fix his own life and as a result fix everyone else's? Please," Nevins scoffed. "While time turners are supposed to be heavily regulated, the occasional ones slip through the cracks. Usually they come from the old families. If we, as the Department of Time, attacked every person who ever wanted to fix his or her past, we'd have several families extinct by now. It wasn't us."

"Well, you're a Ministry official."

"Yes, I am, but I harbor no ill-will towards your son, any version of him—past, present, future. Hell, I don't even mind the feeble attempts to fix the timeline by your son's former classmate. I mean, her heart is clearly in the right place, even if she doesn't even know that it was her research that started us on this path in the first place."

Eileen's eyes narrowed as she considered what Nevins had said. Severus, however, cut in before she had worked anything out.

"How do I get the Ministry to stop attacking me? They're clearly out for my blood."

"Perfect choice of words if ever there was one," Nevins drawled. "If they get rid of you and your father, then there's no more living descendent of the Ashmores. So, obviously, the only option we have is to make sure the entire world knows the truth before they can do anything."

Severus stared at him, his mouth slightly open. Nevins had to be joking? Alerting the entire Wizarding World to something they had believed for decades was a lie?

"And just how do you plan to do that, Nevins?" Eileen asked skeptically. "Send an owl to the _Daily Prophet_?"

"An owl?" Nevins chuckled again. "No, my dear, Eileen. I plan to use howlers. Scream it to the world so they cannot not hear it. After all, history has taught us that the group that makes the most noise usually gets the message out faster."

"Howlers? You've got to be joking."

Nevins only grinned, though. "Rest up, Professor. I have a feeling we'll have several reporters here within the hour."

"You already sent them?!" Eileen shrieked, placing a hand to her chest in pure horror.

"Of course I did. No time like the present, you know?" Nevins then turned away and left.

"I cannot believe him. If it wasn't for . . ." Eileen's voice trailed off before she shook her head violently. She then pointed her finger at him, glaring down at her son. "You are not to date this Aurora Sinistra. You are not even to be near her. Is that understood?"

"What?" Severus's eyes narrowed on her. His mother usually was far from sane, but this was beyond lunacy now. "Why?"

"You have to ask?" she snapped, her eyes darkening. "It's because of her that all this happened. We could have had a nice, relaxing family moment. But instead we're stuck here. Far from Cokeworth, our home. All because your future self couldn't—"

"Don't you even dare, Mother," he stated deathly quiet. If she even so much as finished that sentence, he was going to hex her to the moon. He caught her surprise followed by disappointment.

"You already care for the tart, don't you?"

"You don't know her."

"Nor do you, Severus," she pointed out coldly. "All you know about her is the good moments that your future self had. Once again, you're overlooking her flaws and banking everything on hope and love. When will you get it through your head that you don't need a woman's love in order to be happy?"

"I _am_ happy."

"Then stop chasing after her like she's the reason you breathe! That's what got your future self in trouble after all. He couldn't pick up the pieces after losing her, so he decided to be God and ruin everyone's future."

"Perhaps if you actually experienced love and loss yourself, Mother," he spat out, glaring at her, "you'd understand why he couldn't."

"If I experienced love and loss myself?" she repeated incredulously. "Are you seriously that idiotic, Severus? I gave up everything for your father. My wand, my friends, my family. Everything! And do you know where it got me? A hole in the ground because some bastard decided that you, my only child, needed to be groomed into hating Muggleborns and Muggles, to become a cold-blooded murderer! I went through hell, you stupid boy, thinking that I had lost you forever. That I would never see you again!" Her black eyes went completely cold. "Experience love and loss myself? How about I take Harrison from you and lock you up for decades, starve you, beat you, all for the hell of it Severus? Make you believe that the man you loved, that you gave everything up for, was an abusive prick too on top of all that! So, go ahead, you stupid boy. Judge me!" And with that she stormed out, slamming the door behind her.


	7. Ministry Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you feel like I'm all over with this fic, you'd be right. However, that is intentional as to give a sense of the timeline being fractured in spots thanks to future Severus. :) We'll settle in soon enough and not jump around so much. I did have lots more written for this chapter, but decided it made more sense to add it to the next chapter. So we should get a fairly quick update. As always, thank you for reading and enjoy.

Flopping onto his other side, Severus sighed heavily. He knew he shouldn't have said what he said earlier to his mother, but sometimes she just drove him insane. Why did she always have to push like that? He wasn't four anymore. He knew how crappy the world was and how it used people and discarded them at the drop of a hat. He knew that like the back of his hand. But this was different.

His dark eyes stared up at the ceiling. He followed one of the thick paint lines to the edge of the gaudy wallpaper and sighed. This was so different from all of his other fights with her. This one actually hurt, knowing he had managed to crack her seemingly infallible armor she had worn for as long as he could remember.

He tossed and turned a few more times. He couldn't get the look in her eyes out of his mind. She had seemed so disgusted with him, ashamed even. He couldn't recall a time when he had seen that in her eyes before. Then again, he supposed he deserved those looks. He'd feel the same if he had been in her shoes and Harrison had said the same words to him.

Sighing, he finally gave up. Sleep was not going to come to him. Not after what had transpired between his mother and him earlier. He needed to fix it. That was all it came down to really. He needed to apologize for his words said out of anger. And he needed to do this preferably before his mother left for good.

So, tossing aside the covers, he slowly got up out of bed, a full hour after his fight with his mother. He winced as he pushed himself up to stand. This was going to hurt, he realized, at the first twinge of pain in his abdomen. But he had to fix it.

Eileen may have drove him up the wall most days, but she was his mother in the end. And he had already lost so much time with her already. There was no time for petty arguments. Not where family was concerned at least.

With each step he took, he felt the familiar stabbing pain in his abdomen from his wound hidden under a roll of cotton gauze dressing. When he finally reached the still-closed door, he paused for half a moment, panting and wincing. This was going to hurt more than he imagined on second thought. Slowly, he grabbed ahold of the cold doorknob and turned it.

He half-expected his mother to have been standing outside his room, her back against the wall and her eyes trained on his door. But when he only saw another gaudy wallpaper (rainbow-colored fleur-de-lis in fact) and heard no voices, he knew she had likely left already. His head hung with his shoulders sagging dejectedly. He was too late.

It was then when he heard the high-pitched voice of his son. His eyes narrowed, brows furrowing. By the sound of it, his son was carrying on a long conversation with someone. He pushed himself off the wall and headed towards his son's voice further down the short hallway. Who was the boy talking to? Eileen? Tobias? Whoever it was certainly was getting an earful by the sound of it.

Pausing at another semi-closed door, Severus felt himself hesitate briefly. What if he was interrupting a moment? The boy after all sounded happy and thrilled to be telling his story about talking pumpkins and a rainbow-colored unicorn. Not that the boy's story made much sense really.

A woman's laugh echoed from the other side of the door, causing Severus to step closer and peek inside. His dark eyes found Demetri sitting with her back to him. Judging by her amusement, she was enjoying Harrison's outrageous story immensely.

As she refilled her cup of tea with a flick of her wand, she laughed again at the picture Harrison's story planted in her mind. She was sitting in a card chair. "Did you name the unicorn?" she asked the little boy in front of her.

"Sir Burt," Harrison replied all proud of himself.

"That is a very lovely name." She handed the boy a biscuit from a plate beside her.

Harrison's grin widened even more, his hazel eyes bright with innocence. He then turned away to look at the other person in the room, who was lying in a bed. His smile faltered a bit, and he clasped his hands together while he bit his bottom lip. "Is she gonna be okay?"

Demetri followed his gaze to where the young woman was with Merlin the cat curled at her feet. The smile on her face fell a bit. She didn't want to lie to the boy, but she didn't want to scare him either. "She will be. She just needs to rest like your daddy does. It will help them both feel better."

The sweet, little boy snorted as he turned back to her. "Daddy's not sleeping. He's right there, 'Metri." Harrison's small finger was pointed at him. "See?"

Demetri's head whipped towards the doorway before she stood up from her chair. Pulling the door open fully, she raised a brow at the eavesdropper. "You should be in bed, Severus."

Severus, however, was looking past her, able to see the woman on the bed more clearly now. "What happened?"

Demetri shrugged. " I don't know. She was found unconscious, and Nevins brought her here."

He then turned towards Demetri to interrogate her some more before he suddenly blinked in surprise, as if he had just noticed something. "Is that . . . are you wearing my shirt?"

Demetri looked down at the clothes she had on and snorted. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and black button-up shirt that she had tied in a knot at her navel, revealing a small dragon tattoo. "I'm wearing your jeans as well." Her smile grew when she saw his horrified look. "Thank God you're skinny or else I'd be walking around here naked."

He frowned deeply. "And the reason you couldn't just do a simple transfiguration spell and transfigure your own clothes is . . . why?" He then shook his head and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Never mind. I don't care."

"What can I say? I was jealous of your glorious fashion sense," Demetri teased.

His eyes darted back to Aurora, though. Seriousness took over again. "Where was she found?"

"Near the ministry. With the rogue Unspeakables out for you, Nevins thought it wasn't safe to have her found by a Ministry employee."

"The Ministry?" His eyes widened. What the hell was she doing at the Ministry? He stepped past Demetri, stopping when Harrison tugged on his pant leg. His eyes darted down to him, noticing Harrison was staring up at him expectantly. Bending down, he glanced at the young boy. "What is it?"

"Shh, Daddy. She's sleeping." The sweet boy pressed a finger against his lips.

Demetri laughed at the boy's reprimanding of his father and ruffled Harrison's hair. "Daddy should be sleeping too."

Harrison glanced at her with his best 'duh' look before he looked back at Severus. "Daddy?"

Severus sighed. "Yes, brat?" He hated being ganged up, but there was something about Harrison that made it almost adorable, tolerable in other words.

"Can I s'eep wid you? I won't say nothin' about Sir Burt and his meetin' the fuzzy lady. Romise."

Demetri grinned at the question. There was no way Severus would say no to Harrison's request. Well, unless he was going for a record today of his gitness.

"The fuzzy lady?" Wincing, Severus sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose. Where in the world did this boy get his imagination from?

"The fuzzy lady and Sir Burt are best friends, Severus," Demetri stated, grinning at Harrison.

In turn, the little boy nodded excitedly at her answer. It was as if he had just been told he could do magic or something.

"Of course they are," Severus replied with another sigh. "Fine. You can sleep beside me, but _after_ we find your grandmother."

Demetri cut in once more. "I haven't seen Eileen since this morning when Nevins dropped by."

Harrison sighed exaggeratedly soon afterwards, clearly having all the air sucked out of him by the answer. "Daddy, come on," he whined, tugging on Severus again. "You can tell Gamma later. It's bedtime."

"If I don't apologize to her now," Severus began "she'll make our lives a living hell, Harrison. I have to." Wait. Why was he arguing with his two-year-old son again? The old him would have just spelled the boy asleep. He paused and stared at the little boy in front of him. Maybe he _was_ growing up and settling in to this whole parent thing after all.

"So?" Harrison said, elongating the word as long as he could. "Gamma's not gonna be happy if you get hurt more." He then glanced towards Aurora and Demetri. "Or 'Metri or her."

"The boy does have a point, Severus," Demetri said with a shrug.

Severus glared at her instantly. "You're not helping, Le Fay." He then crossed his arms and turned back to his son. "Daddy said some really mean things and upset her. Now, Daddy can go to bed with you, but that's only going to give your grandmother more time to figure out which curse to use on Daddy. So, please, brat, let Daddy find her first, apologize, and then we can sleep."

Harrison stuck his bottom lip out in response and crossed his little arms in front of his chest.

"Fine," he huffed, stomping his little foot down.

"You know, if you want, I could watch Harrison while the two of you talk or are you going to need him, you know, as a way to keep your mother from hexing you?" Demetri asked, a smirk crossing her ruby lips.

"He'll come with me. You're already busy tending to her after all."

"Uh huh." She placed her hands on her hips. "Like I said, she can't hex you with Harrison in tow, can she?"

He sighed, ignoring her jest while gently picking Harrison up. He bit back a groan instantly. Maybe on second thought he shouldn't have done that, but he wasn't going to let the tyke run off again.

Demetri snorted. "You open that wound, Severus, I'll make sure to stitch it back the Muggle way without painkillers."

He glanced at her but said nothing to her. What he did or didn't do wasn't any of her concern. "Come on, Harrison. Let's go find Grandmum," he said aloud, his eyes falling on Aurora one last time before he left. He'd talk with her later when she was awake. They had time after all.

* * *

It took a bit of searching, but he finally found Eileen after the sixth room. She had her back to him and was looking out a grimy window. Sighing quietly, he glanced at Harrison who was looking back at him. Sometimes it was so uncanny how the boy just knew without words needing to be said. He bent down and set the boy back on his own two feet before he approached her. He could feel the boy's hazel eyes watching his every move.

"Mum?" Severus's voice was barely above a whisper for fear that she would hex him still. When her shoulders hunched up, he knew she had heard him. "I'm an idiot. No. Actually, I'm worse than that."

Eileen slowly turned towards him, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Her eyes were hard as steel as she waited.

"I should never have said that to you. Any of it. You're only trying to guide me, and instead of listening, I snapped at you. I'm sorry, Mum," he said softly.

"And that makes it all better now, doesn't it, Severus? You apologize, and I'm expected to forgive you. As if all that you said—"

"I was wrong!" he cut in, taking a step towards her. "I was wrong, Mum," he repeated softer.

"Yes, you were," she stated sharply before she added a soft "brat."

His brows knit together briefly in confusion.

"You were wrong. Grossly wrong. But, I suppose, I can accept your apology."

"You do?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Of course I can, Severus. It's not your fault that you were born an idiot. It's your father's." She smirked before she picked Harrison up. "Well, my first grandchild, what do you say to drawing on all the walls and making this place even prettier?" Harrison giggled in response and nodded excitedly. "All right. Do you want puke green or dildo pink first?"

Severus's mouth dropped. "What?"

She glanced sideways at him. "You can choose later, Severus. Harrison comes first now." She smiled at him. "Now, go talk to the harlot trying to destroy our family. Will you?"

"Aurora's not a—"

Eileen, however, pointed towards the door with a stern look. She clearly wasn't in the mood for his arguments.

Frowning, Severus glanced towards Harrison one last time before he sighed and headed back towards the room Aurora was in. He passed the various moving portraits, not stopping to notice the grizzly scenes that were being depicted. He kept his head held up and hands at his side.

Why did his mother dislike Aurora so much? It couldn't solely be because of last spring. That was one meeting. That hardly was enough time to formulate an opinion about anyone. And yet for some reason, his mother already didn't like her.

As he walked back in to the room, he noticed instantly that Demetri was no longer there. He paused and glanced around, looking for her. However, it seemed as if she had left not long after he had. But that didn't make sense. Demetri wouldn't have just left her alone like that. Would she?

His eyes searched for any signs of where Demetri might have gone, but he found nothing. In fact, it actually looked like she had just gotten up and left. Running a hand through his hair, he frowned. Of course, it could just be that she had to use the bathroom or something, but he didn't know how to explain it other than something just felt off about the whole situation.

He slowly approached Aurora, noticing that she was still lying flat on her back in the bed with her eyes closed. He could see her chest rising and falling normally, so he knew she seemed to be all right. At least she was breathing that was. His eyes then passed over her, finally taking stock of her visible injuries.

She had deep bruise, fully purple and black now, on her right temple from where something must have hit her hard. A little bit below that, she had a laceration that cut across her cheek from her ear to her nostril. On her left side, she had a split lip and another blue-and-black blotch on her cheek. She clearly had been attacked.

His eyes softened as he paused at her bedside. She looked so peaceful as she slept. When he saw one of her black, bouncy curls moving in tune with her breathing as it had fallen free, he leaned forward and gently brushed it back from her lips. When she inhaled sharply and pulled back with a start, he froze and stared at her. He hadn't meant to scare her.

"Easy. It's just me," he stated, raising his arms up defensively. "I don't mean you any harm."

Warm brown eyes blinked back at him in confusion for a brief moment before the rich chocolate orbs narrowed on him.

"Severus?" Her voice was rough from disuse.

"Yes," he said softly, lowering his hands when he was certain she wasn't going to curse him. When she sat up suddenly a second later in a flurry of panic, he leaned towards her and gently pressed a hand against her shoulder to keep from standing up. "Easy," he warned. There was no telling how badly she was injured internally. He'd be damned if she hurt herself even further.

She grabbed his arm, though, her fingers tightening around his wrist. "We have to leave, Severus. Now! Before—" Her eyes then widened in horror at something behind him before she tightened her hold on him. Her nails dug into his skin. She seemed genuinely scared of something.

"Ah, good. You're awake," Nevins stated happily behind Severus as he walked into the room.

Severus sighed inwardly. Of course Nevins was still there. Though, he supposed he did owe the man something. He had rescued Aurora after all according to Demetri, not that the Auror had mentioned that earlier during their discussion.

"I was beginning to think you were going to sleep the whole day away." Nevins chuckled quietly, his hands hidden underneath the folds of his robes.

Aurora's eyes remained trained on Severus's. He couldn't understand the reason for her panic. It was only Nevins, not the Dark Lord himself. What was going on?

"Now, Aurora, is that any way to treat a friend?" Nevins drawled with a dark laugh. "A friend who brought you here to your Prince Charming?"

Severus then realized why she was acting the way she was. It was the laugh that gave Nevins away. There was just something off about it. He turned his wrist outward so his wand would drop into his hand from his holster. However, the moment he felt the strong wood in his fingers, Aurora snatched his wand from him and yanked him back protectively. Having not expected that, he stumbled, nearly falling as a result but catching himself on the side of her bed. His eyes widened as he watched her slash his wand violently, cutting the air with a loud swish from the wood.

" _Sectumsempra_!" she snarled, her eyes dark and cold now.

He gasped, stumbling to turn around to see his trademark curse fly from his wand to the other man. The brilliant white jet of light struck Nevins soon after. Almost immediately, Severus saw the deep crimson slashes appear on the other man who was now screaming in agony as the invisible sword cut through him like butter. When Nevins crumpled to the floor a moment later in a bloody, lifeless heap, Severus inhaled sharply and turned back to her stunned and unable to move.

With her shoulder slumping slightly and her seemingly starting to relax, she held out his wand back to him, holding his shocked gaze.

He continued to stare at her, though, completely at a loss for words, not bothering to even reach for his wand back. How did she know his curse? He had never taught anyone how to cast it, not even Evans. And how could his wand just allow her to cast his curse with her magic? It was a betrayal of the worst kind.

"You murdered a Ministry official!" he declared, the words reverberating around the room.

"That's not Nevins, Severus," she stated through weighted breaths.

"You don't know that. You couldn't possibly know that." Nor could he know that she was right and that it wasn't Nevins either, but he was going to ignore that thought for now.

What the hell just happened? So many questions flew through his mind. He couldn't keep his thoughts straight anymore. She just murdered a Ministry official for no reason other than the other man came off a bit odd. Murdered him with Severus's own wand nonetheless! His own curse! A curse he never taught to anyone!

"He was going to hurt you!" she argued, her eyes imploring him to believe her.

"You don't know that!" Nor did he for that matter.

A flurry of footfalls then followed as the other occupants of the cottage finally ran into the room. Severus noticed his dad's raised eyebrow at Nevins's dead body, and Eileen's cold gaze directed at Aurora as she shielded Harrison's eyes. He then frowned as he saw Demetri still wasn't there. He turned back to the curly-haired witch who had so much to answer before the night was done.

"Where's Demetri?" His voice lowered into a growl. "Did you murder her as well?"

"What?" She seemed genuinely shocked by his accusation.

"She was sitting right there when I last left," he snarled, pointing to the empty chair beside him.

"Severus, I didn't—"

His nostrils flared angrily. How could he be so stupid to think that she was the one for him? No. His future self had to have been mistaken. There was no way he could have married her. Or if he had, his future self didn't know her true self. The self he now knew.

"Do not lie to me," he whispered, glaring at her.

"I'm not!" she yelled back. "I haven't seen Demetri since the Firecall!"

He snatched a hold of her arms and yanked her up out of the bed. She was lying! She had to be! He noticed her eyes widen in fear and felt a sliver of regret deep within him. He held her so close to him that he could feel her warm, shaky breath against his breath.

"Severus—"

" _Legilimens_!" he snarled, cutting her off. He'd get his answers if it were the last thing he did. He was thrown into her mind a moment later, quickly moving past the nonessential layers. When he found her recent memories a moment later, he grabbed onto it and watched.

"And remember . . . this is just for a bit until I've finished. Once it's all good, then—"

A bright light then overtook the memory before Severus heard a sudden roar from behind them. He glanced from Aurora where she had been crouching back to the closed door. Something had happened. He followed her as she walked to the door, noticing that she now had her wand in hand.

"Kingsley?" she called out hesitantly.

There was a loud thump from the other side of the closed door.

Severus's eyes narrowed as he watched her slowly reach for the door. What was she doing? When the door flew open before she could reach it, he watched her jump and raise her wand defensively. At the sight of Nevins, though, he inhaled sharply.

"Nevins? What the hell are you doing here?" she snapped, lowering her wand a bit.

"You have to go! Now!" The Auror grabbed her upper arm and pulled her back from the door, closing it behind him.

"Where's Kingsley?" Nevins said nothing and only continued to pull her towards the fireplace. "Nevins, what's going on?"

"You have to go, Sinistra!" He released her and grabbed a handful of powder. "Get to the Ministry! To the Department of Mysteries!"

"Why? Nevins, what's going on?"

The man grabbed her face, though, and stared deep into her eyes. "Do you want to save Severus or not?" He didn't wait for her reply. "I have a file on the Ashmores in my desk. Bottom drawer." He handed her a key. "Go! Before they find you!"

"Find me? Nevins, I don't understand." He, however, shoved her towards the fireplace.

"Go, Sinistra!" he ordered.

Severus seemed as confused as she did. What was he going on about? Before who found her? And save Severus from what? He watched Aurora's mouth open, but whirled away from her when he heard the door explode.

"They're coming!" Shacklebolt yelled as he rushed in. "What's she still doing here? Aurora, go! Now! We'll hold them off!" He turned back just as a curse struck him in the shoulder.

"Kingsley!" she screamed before Nevins shoved her roughly towards the fireplace again.

"Go! Before you die here with us!" Nevins then was hit with a curse as well.

She threw herself through the emerald flames a moment later, tumbling out into the main atrium of the Ministry of Magic. She didn't waste any time before she rushed towards the nearest lift. Severus followed close behind, noticing her nervousness.

"Aurora?"

She turned towards the voice and smiled faintly, her eyes darting about. "Arthur."

"It's time?" he asked quietly so only she heard.

"I don't know. Nevins and Kingsley . . . they . . ." She sighed, closing her eyes and running a hand through her dark curls. "I don't know, Arthur."

The Weasley patriarch sighed softly before he gently rested a hand on her arm. "I'll escort you."

As they navigated the maze that was the Ministry of Magic, Severus found his curiosity increase. He didn't understand what was going on. Nor did she for that matter or Arthur Weasley. When the two finally found their way to Nevins's desk in the Department of Mysteries, she unlocked the bottom drawer and pulled out the blue file Nevins had locked inside.

"Is that it?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I don't understand any of this, Arthur." She turned towards him.

"Nor do we, but you know how Albus is." Arthur gave her a bit of a sad smile. "We should get you out of here before—"

"Before someone finds two Blood Traitors consorting with one another?" a low voice chuckled. "Tsk, tsk. There's no need for wands." A man then stepped forward before he plucked the file from Aurora's hands. He had three more companions who stepped out of the darkness with their wands pointed at Arthur and Aurora. "Now, what's this file doing in your hands? Hmm?" The man's dark eyes glistened in the candlelight.

"What are you doing here?" Arthur demanded, glaring at the unknown man.

"You don't honestly believe we'd not be watching the Ministry after all your little, shall we say, endeavors, do you?" The man smirked before he grabbed Aurora's face and wrenched her head upwards. "Aren't you a pretty little thing?" He chuckled darkly and snapped his fingers and pointed at Arthur. "Get him out of here. Aurora and I need to talk privately. Don't we, beautiful?" When the others drug Arthur out of the room, the man holding her sighed softly. "I'm told that Severus has become quite enamored with you for some reason. Now, that just can't do. Do you know why that is?" He ran a hand down the side of her face.

"Go to hell!"

The man chuckled loudly and shook his head. "Severus Snape needs to stay on the path set out before him. I don't care if Albus Dumbledore now has a conscience and is doing his very best to undo our work, the work he agreed to long ago. His constant sending of pawns like you to do his dirty work won't work. Now, we'll overlook the brat and Severus's parents of course. But you, oh you beautiful, we can't. You'll mess everything up. We need him to stay focused. Do you understand? And if he's fucking you all the time, being oh-so-happy with his lovely Aurora, then he won't complete his destiny."

"The Dark Lord is dead."

"Riddle was the brat's destiny, not our dear Severus's, beautiful. Severus's is much more."

"You won't win."

"Win? Oh, sweetheart, it's not about winning. We need Severus to embrace his darkness fully, to give in and be the man he was destined to be. And, frankly, he just can't do that with you around."

"Why do you need him dark? What difference does that make?"

"Oh, well, I suppose it won't hurt to tell you. After all, the moment you see him, I'll have killed you in front of him." The man shrugged. "As you know, the Prince family was full of dark witches and wizards. Several of them were in Azkaban actually. His father's side, though . . ."

"The Ashmores."

"Yes." The man chuckled, letting his hand slid lower down her body. "Beautiful and smart, my, I can see why he'd like you." His eyes glistened darkly. "Your mother was the one who actually discovered the truth about Ismeralda and the actual story of how she came to be. You see, that stupid story that everyone makes so romantic about the Ashmores, it's a lie. They didn't adopt a child from an orphanage, her adoptive father taking her to Hogwarts and learning that she was a Squib but loving her all the same. No. That didn't happen. That isn't even remotely close to what happened." His grin widened. "Lady Ashmore rejected her husband's advances. You see, she wanted love, to be happy, and she wasn't with him. She hated him and the idea of carrying any of his heirs. Well, Lord Ashmore was not happy with this, as I'm sure you can imagine. So, he and his friend, a member of the Selwyn family, came up with the perfect way to get her in line. To ruin her for good and force her to bear his child one way or another."

Severus felt the color in his face drain away and pulled out of Aurora's head. He didn't need to hear the rest. He had a pretty good idea what had happened. His eyes narrowed briefly as he noticed the crimson liquid streaming down her nose and the blank stare. Oh, no! She was losing consciousness in his arms, going limp as he held her. He gently lowered her back down to the bed and kicked himself mentally. Stupid. So stupid!

"What did you do, Severus?"

He felt someone shove him and moved aside. Glancing upwards, he noticed the dark hair. Demetri. His eyes darted back down to Aurora and then back to Demetri. From the back, they looked so similar. He hadn't noticed that before.

"Aurora! Open your eyes. Please open your eyes," Demetri pleaded, gently tapping the other witch's cheek.

Severus stood there, unable to move. He glanced at his parents, his eyes showing his regret and fear. What had he done?

He watched his mother pass Harrison over to Tobias before she stepped towards Aurora with a heavy sigh. Demetri glanced at her.

"Give me your wand," Eileen said quietly, holding her hand out expectantly.

Demetri stared at the outstretched hand. "I may be American, but I'm not stupid enough to hand my wand to someone who loathes Aurora."

"Then she dies," Eileen replied flatly, turning away. "You can't say I didn't try."

"Here." Severus held his wand out to her, catching his mother's eyes. "Please, Mum?"

Eileen sighed exaggeratedly and took his wand. A moment later, she was running her wand over Aurora's temples, deep in thought.

Severus could see his mother's lips moving but he heard no sound from her. He waited, his wringing his hands together nervously. How could he think the worst of Aurora? Go from caring for her to hating her back to caring even more?

She was trying to save him, though. She had always tried to save him. And for whatever reason the man dead on the floor was one of the few who didn't want that to happen. It only made him want to refuse the darkness inside even more.

Severus didn't care much for the theory that he was genetically predisposed to darkness, though. No one could be. Not unless the person had been conceived under the influence of a love potion, but even that was just a theory at best. As far as he was aware, it had never occurred yet thankfully.

When he heard a soft murmur a few seconds later, he craned his head and tried to look around his mother. What was happening? Was she regaining consciousness? Had his mother been successful? He glanced to Demetri who had a better view and noticed her posture relaxing.

"She'll live," Eileen stated, holding his wand out to him.

He tipped his head in gratitude to her before he stepped closer. He caught Demetri's glare instantly and pushed forward.

"Sinistra?" He didn't earn the right to call her by her first name after that. He waited anxiously for her reply. She was refusing to meet his eyes, which he could understand. "I apologize for my actions. I shouldn't have—"

"No you shouldn't have," Aurora replied defiantly, finally meeting his eyes again.

He closed his eyes briefly and looked down guiltily.

"We need get out of here. Before the others learn that he's dead and come after us," she declared, attempting to sit up. "Demetri, enough. If we don't leave, more of his kind will come here." She motioned towards the dead body on the floor. "And I'll be damned if they come here to succeed in their goal. Do you hear me?"

"Where are we going to go, Sin? It's not like we have a lot of options anymore."

The other witch, however, said softly, "We've got one."

"No. Absolutely not! That's insane!" Demetri snapped, shaking her head.

"That's what makes it perfect." Aurora rubbed a temple and sighed. "They'll expect you to go to all the others, the Order, the Ministry, all of their friends, but not there. They think he doesn't know, but he does, Demetri. It makes sense to go back to where it began."

"Excuse me, lasses, but go where?" Tobias interrupted.

It was Severus, however, who answered. "Ashmore manor."

"What?" Tobias said puzzled.

"Absolutely not!" Eileen barked, glaring at the two younger witches. "I am not taking my family to some haunted manor known for a familial massacre."

"It's been abandoned for more than a century, Mother," Severus explained. "And the wards will recognize Tobias. He is, after all, the heir to the estates. We could use it to our advantage." He caught his mother's look of betrayal before she frowned.

"Is this your decision then?"

He nodded slowly. "It is."

Eileen turned towards Aurora and pointed her finger at her. "You're not even with my son yet, and you've already caused some half-a-dozen arguments. I hope for your sake that you're worth it."

Aurora glanced at him confused but said nothing.

"All right. Let's go then." Demetri gently helped Aurora to her feet, as Tobias and Harrison moved closer. They Disapparated a moment later from the now-burning cottage.


	8. Foolish Downfall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple more questions answered. :) Enjoy, and thank you so much for reading.

It was disorienting how much they had traveled lately. One moment they were at Hogwarts, the next an unknown cottage, and now Ashmore manor. If one could call it a manor.

The group slowly walked up the worn path in the dying grass of the dark manor's grounds, dust kicking up from their boots as they did. The reddish-stone manor had two separate pentagon wings that jutted out from its main base with twenty-three windows from what Severus could see. Eight windows were on the ground floor with three on the right side, three on the left side, and two in the middle on either side of a large ornate door. Another six windows were on the second floor with the same placement mostly as it had been on the ground floor. And another nine were on the roof for anyone in the attic to look out of and were complete with decorative ramparts below them. There were three balconies that had large double doors on the second floor: one on the right, left, and middle of the manor's second-floor. Each balcony had black ornate railing lining it with a design in the middle of the railing similar to a silhouette of a scythe-holding figure. Ten steps shaped in a half-oval led up to the lavish front door. Elegance and fear came to mind when one stared at the two-story manor's outside.

Once they had dealt with the centuries-old cobwebs and the two-inch thick dust on the inside, the manor wasn't actually half-bad in his opinion. Old and musty certainly, but not bad. Eileen and Tobias had set off a bit earlier to give Severus some space as the young man sat in one of the empty rooms with Harrison in his arms. Aurora and Demetri had, in turn, gone off to explore more of the manor.

He couldn't get out of his head how close he had come to killing Aurora earlier. He hadn't meant to hurt her. He just hated when people lied to him. Not that it was excuse, though, because it wasn't. There was no excuse for what he had done to her. Now, though, the witch couldn't stand to be near him it seemed, which hurt him more than he cared to admit.

"Dada?" Harrison softly said, staring up at him with warm hazel eyes.

"I'm sorry, brat. I keep screwing up," Severus admitted quietly.

"Kiss 't betwa?"

Severus chuckled quietly, pressing a kiss against his son's forehead. "Somehow I doubt a kiss could make this better." He carded the boy's hair and sighed again.

What he needed to do was stop feeling sorry for himself and find her to apologize. So many times now he found himself apologizing for yet another stupid thing. Why couldn't he just be normal for once? To be more like one who wasn't broken and damaged inside like he was? Why did he always expect the worst in people? It was stupid.

"I thought I'd find you in here," a voice suddenly spoke from the doorway.

He turned to the voice and forced himself to breathe as he felt the air be sucked out. Aurora was leaning heavily against the doorjamb. He was just about to stand up when she held a hand up.

"I'm fine. Just sit back down with your son." He did instantly, his eyes watching her every move. She looked like she was seconds away from collapsing as she slowly limped over to where the two were before she motioned to a chair. "Mind if I sit down?"

"Please." He nodded and held a hand out. She was here in front of him again, in the same room as him. Did that mean she wasn't upset with him any longer? Or was it something else?

"Hello, Harrison." Aurora said softly, addressing the curious boy staring at her from his side. "My, you've gotten big this year, haven't you?"

Severus glanced down and noticed Harrison's shy smile.

"You've got your dad's smile, too," she said before she leaned in to the little boy. "Do you have his glare as well?" she asked teasingly.

"No," Harrison giggled, burying his face into Severus's side.

"Shame," she replied, pulling back before she looked to Severus and forced an awkward smile.

He couldn't stop himself then. It all just came tumbling out, oozing out of his mouth like a first-year's failed attempt at brewing. "I'm sorry," Severus started, stopping when she held up a hand again.

"Don't. Please." Her eyes held a pained expression in them.

He glanced to the floor, closing his eyes. She was right. No amount of apologies was going to make up for what he did. He had nearly killed her.

"I'm sure you've got questions," she said quietly a few moments later to him. "I'll answer them if I can. There's a lot about this I don't know, though."

He nodded, feeling Harrison squirm against him. No doubt, the boy was becoming restless again.

"If I put you down, will you stay where I can see you?" he said to the young boy. Harrison nodded. Sighing, Severus reluctantly set his son down, watching the little boy run over to a few toys he could play with in the corner.

Severus turned back to her and sighed, running a hand through his long hair.

"How do you know my curse?" At her confused look, he added quietly, "Sectumsempra."

"Oh." She shrugged. "Um, during my fifth year I asked Reg if I could borrow his Potions text for a bit so I could finish an essay for Slughorn. He gave me yours for some reason, and I stumbled across it on one of the pages and wrote it down."

Regulus had taken his book once? He couldn't recall ever offering it to the youngest Black, but it wouldn't have been too far off to do so he supposed. He had been the reason the boy joined the Death Eaters after all, having been Black's sponsor as Lucius Malfoy had been his long ago.

Severus frowned as he thought on this for a few moments. From his own journal, he had learned Aurora and Reg had been close friends as they were in the same house and in the same year, so it wasn't beyond the possibility. But it led to another question.

"Why did you write it down?"

"Well, I had never heard of it before, so I figured it was a curse you learned about from the Restricted Section. Course when I looked for it there, I didn't find it and no professor had ever heard of such a powerful curse before, so I realized it was a curse you must have created. After that, I figured I should learn how to cast it too. For protection. But when I found out what it did, though . . ."

"You've cast it before today?"

"Once before, yeah, against a Death Eater." Her voice lowered. "I was sick for weeks afterwards. I couldn't get the image out of my head."

He nodded slowly. He could understand it. The first time he cast it at full power he had managed to amputate a Muggle's arm. He had so many questions he needed answers to. Like, why did the people after him want him to go dark? Was it a prophecy or something else? Did she know that, though, he wondered. He wasn't certain, but that wasn't the question he asked. The one he needed the answer to.

"Why did you stay away this year?" He heard the question fall from his lips and stared at her.

"I was trying to fix the timeline," she replied, as if that answered everything. When he didn't say anything else, she continued. "Keep it from unraveling and killing all of us. Or at the very least destroying this universe and all that we know. And then Albus showed up one day out of the blue and explained to me that you were in danger and . . . well, I figured I could keep you safe from a distance. Let Demetri be your friend in other words and give the timeline some room to relax."

"It didn't have anything to do with Harrison?" He caught her surprise instantly.

"What?" She stared at him and shook her head. "No. Of course not. Why would it?"

"Because." Now it was his turn to lower his voice. "Harrison isn't yours." He frowned when she doubled over and burst out laughing. "What's so funny?"

"Do you honestly I stayed away because you had a child with another woman and I couldn't bear to see that? That I was overcome with jealousy?" He glared. "Oh, Severus. Sometimes you're such an idiot. I mean, honestly."

"I am not."

"You sort of are."

"Well, what else was I supposed to think, Sinistra?" he groused, crossing his arms. "For years you chased after me like a lost puppy dog, and then when we were supposed to work together side-by-side, you decide suddenly not to show up. And that was just a few months after seeing Harrison."

Her eyes narrowed on him before she crossed her own arms. "How do you know that?"

"How do I know what?"

"That I chased after you."

"Oh, please, everyone knows that. It's not like you're particularly good at hiding it," he said evasively, inwardly wincing at his slipup. He would have to be more careful in the future.

"Everyone does know that, but you're not everyone. You never paid attention to me. Never gave a second glance to me. In fact, in your eyes, I was some silly annoying girl with my head in the clouds who bothered the hell out of you all throughout our years at Hogwarts."

He kept his eyes far from hers, his mind racing with possible things to throw her off.

"Wait a minute."

He swallowed back his words. It was too late already. She knew.

"Your future self revealed that, didn't he?"

He noticed Harrison's hazel eyes on him with an amused look on his face. Little brat.

"What else did he tell you?"

"Nothing," Severus said quickly. A little too quickly he noticed a moment later when he felt warm under her gaze.

"Severus," she said slowly.

"Nothing. He said nothing to me about you."

"Liar."

His head snapped to hers. "Okay, yes, he may have let some things slip, but it's not like he told me you snore or anything." Her eyes narrowed on him, and he refused to panic. When she leaned in closer to him, he inhaled deeply and almost instantly cursed himself for doing that. Raspberries. She smelled of raspberries. He swallowed harshly, his throat having suddenly gone dry as a fresh assault of memories took over in the back of his mind. The last time he had smelled that particular scent . . .

"Severus." Her voice was low as she moved even closer to him, dangerously close. She was close enough now that he could feel her warm breath against his face. "If I grabbed you by the shirt right now, what would you do?"

It horrified him to think he had nearly said 'Kiss you." No. It wasn't supposed to be like this yet. The memories had lessened awhile back. He was better now, more like himself, not a love-sick teenager. The way she was staring into his eyes, though, he knew he was screwed.

"You have his memories!"

"No!" he said with a strangled breath, raising his hands. "I don't!"

"Liar."

"Aurora," he argued, his breath hitching when she grabbed the back of his neck so he couldn't run. As if he was going to, though. He felt a sudden jolt of electricity inside him from her soft touch. He then watched her eyes stare off in the distance. She was clearly working something out in her head before she suddenly yanked her hand back and glared at him. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she finally decided on her words.

"You never, never once in all the time we've known each, called me Aurora. Not once!" She pointed at him, staring at him looking half-horrified and half-excited. Or maybe he just wanted to see that last part. "I've always been Sinistra!"

There were soft giggles from the corner, and Severus winced. He was screwed. Beyond screwed.

"He didn't give them to me, Aur—Sinistra. He wanted me to, well, fall for you on my own, on my time." He hated the look in her eyes right now. "It's only been a recent thing, but Nevins gave me a potion and they stopped." When her eyes narrowed, he added quietly, "Sort of."

"Sort of?" she repeated deathly quiet. "Just what sorts of stuff do you know exactly?"

His eyes darted far from hers. This was not going to end well.

"Severus."

"You're . . . a good person?" It was weak. Even he knew that.

"Severus Snape, answer me!"

"Oh, please, clearly, witch, he's had sex dreams about you," Eileen drawled from the doorway suddenly as she entered the room. "Come, Harrison. Let's leave Severus with his harlot."

Severus watched the little boy leave with his grandmother, giggling the entire time.

"Well, is she telling the truth?"

"Possibly?" he replied, wincing. He watched her eyes widen before she launched herself at him.

"I'm going to kill you!" she yelled, her eyes fierce.

He, however, quickly grabbed her wrists and managed to roll them over so she was below him now on the bed. Which he realized was a really bad idea on second thought soon after.

"Aurora, calm down!"

"Calm down?! You've been having sex dreams about me for who knows how many months now! You have knowledge; knowledge you're not supposed to have! How could you be so stupid? GAH! Why the hell did you—or him or whoever—mess with time in the first place? Time is—I can't believe you! UGH!" Her chest was heaving as she glared up at him.

"Are you finished?" he asked, staring down desperately trying not to lean down and kiss her.

"No." Her eyes softened, though, but she still didn't look happy. "Knowing all of that now, everything you know, the timeline will try to correct itself. All because you—or rather HIM—had to come back in time for some asinine reason. And where the hell did you get the knowledge to do that anyway? You suck at Astronomy and all of the theories around it. Called it a worthless subject once actually to my face."

Had he truly? He supposed it could very well be possible. He had been a stupid kid after all. However, as he thought on it for a moment, he found a smirk making its way to his lips. He couldn't help but lean closer to her, lowering his voice. "If you must know, he got it from _you_." When her eyes widened again and she gasped, he chuckled. "So, you know, if you wouldn't have been studying time travel and all of its asinine theories, Aurora, the timeline would have just been fine."

"Me? That's absurd."

"Oh, really?" She wasn't really fighting him anymore, so he didn't know why he was keeping her pinned to the bed as he was. Perhaps because he liked the feel of being on top of her, feeling her.

As she lifted her head up so their noses were almost touching, she stated, "If we were truly together in that timeline, Severus, then I can assure you there would be absolutely no reason for me to ever—and I mean _ever_ —research time travel anymore. Want to know why?"

"Why?" he replied, leaning even more so their noses were now touching. It was exciting and gut-wrenching being so close to her now. She was right there. Right there in front of him. His stomach did backflips as he stared into her eyes.

"Because I'd be snogging the fuck out of you every damn chance I could get, arshole. Not to mention, shagging the shit out of you!"

Her words sent a flurry of pleasure shooting through his body faster than lightning streaking the night sky in the middle of summer. He couldn't help it. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop himself. "Is that a promise, Aurora?"

He watched her brief surprise quickly morph into mischievousness.

"You'll never know, Severus." She then let her head fall back against the bed.

Now it was his turn to be temporarily confused. What was that? No. That couldn't be all that he'd get from her. He wanted more damn it!

"You can't honestly be upset with me," he grumbled, "because I've had a few dreams about you, can you? It's not like I asked for it! It just happened."

"A few dreams? That's all you had?"

"Yes. A few. That's all."

"How many is a few? Three, four, five? Ten?"

He frowned. She was being ridiculous. Then again, that was usually how it always started before they ended up in bed toge— He blinked, forcing the thought to the far corner of his mind. Nope. He couldn't think like that. Not yet. Not until they had officially started a relationship and had been in one long enough to be comfortable. He was supposed to be awkward around her, not like this.

"What? More than ten?" she said, staring at him incredulously.

"No it's not . . ." He then sighed. "I have had two or three dreams this past summer that were sexual in nature concerning you, but they weren't memories."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because it wasn't detailed enough, Aurora. Just your face on what could have been a doll for all I know. The memories that I watched, those were vivid, detailed, unlike the dreams. The smell of berries for example when you walk in a room. The jests you make playfully, the little touches. The way you hold your wand. That I know is from his memories. But the sex dreams, well, I am a male after all. I'm not dead. And you're beautiful. And, you know, being told by your future self that you might end up with a beautiful witch like you, what was I supposed to do?"

"So, then, what? Just seeing a few of these memories, a sex dream sprinkled in here and there, changed your mind about love, about me?"

She didn't believe him, and he could understand it. He wouldn't if the roles were reversed. He had spent his entire childhood chasing after Evans, living solely for her and her alone. No one else mattered or ever would. Yet a year since Evans's death, he had found himself thinking of Aurora in a different light, not wanting to push her away. Sighing, he released her wrists.

"I don't know. I'm—I've been trying to figure it out myself. I don't know you. Really I don't. And you're right. I didn't pay any attention to you at all during our years at Hogwarts. I—it might just be that I long for the feeling of being loved. Or something. I don't know."

"You were flirting with me, though. Just a few minutes ago."

"As were you," he pointed out with a shrug. He then rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "I'm not going to lie and say I wouldn't want to snog you senseless right now. Because I think deep down both of us know the truth." He didn't glance at her to see her reaction. He frankly couldn't bring himself to see it. "I don't know what I feel. Other than this summer was hard, more difficult when you weren't there to teach beside me this year. It felt like—I don't know—like rejection, and we both know how I take that." He sighed. "I don't know what I feel. I'm conflicted. Horribly so and I think that's fine. You know?" He finally glanced at her, noticing her soft eyes on him.

"Your mother keeps referring to me as your harlot," she said quietly a few moments later.

"I know. I'm sorry." He sighed. "Unfortunately, they all know my feelings concerning you."

She laughed softly and shook her head. "My, how the tables have turned, hmm?"

"Indeed." She then raised her hand to touch his cheek. He closed his eyes the moment he felt her hand. "Do you know why he came back then? Your future self, I mean."

Severus sighed quietly, reopening his eyes and looking down at her. "Do you want the truth?" He thought a quick prayer hoping she wouldn't want to know the truth. The truth was painful, heartbreaking even to hear. Even he didn't want to know it anymore.

"Yes."

He had damned her to the same fate as his. The knowledge of the future, while it was always longed for, should never be known. Not like this at least, and definitely not like he knew.

"His wife and unborn child were murdered in front of him," he answered quietly, trying to distance himself from his future self, to avoid thinking how that had been him, a version of him at least in some other time. "He watched her die, take her last breath, and he couldn't do anything to help her because he was, was tied up." His voice had cracked only once.

"Oh."

His eyes closed, and slowly he moved off her. When she grabbed his arm, though, he stopped.

"Harrison isn't really yours, is he?" Her voice was softer than a whisper.

He glanced at her and sighed. It would be so easy to repeat the lie to her. It was actually becoming easier to believe it in fact. The boy was his son now. Not in flesh and blood, but damn near close to it in his mind. But he couldn't lie to her, couldn't repeat the lie once more.

"He brought Harrison to me last year," he stated quietly. "Told me to raise the boy as my own. I was so scared at first." Understatement of the year actually, he realized. He was more than scared. He was downright petrified by the screaming infant. "I had never been around brats like the boy before. He told me I would learn how to be a dad, though, to care for the boy. And he's right. The brat somehow wormed his way into my heart." He left the words, 'Like you did' unsaid.

"Well, do you know who the child really was then? Or what happened to his actual parents?"

Severus's shoulders sagged. He really shouldn't tell her anymore, but he couldn't keep it from her either. She knew this much. He might as well damn her more and tell her all of it. She had been trustworthy so far. "He's Evans's son."

"Oh."

His eyes fell back to the floor as he sat beside her. When he felt her wrap her arms around him a moment later, he glanced at her, confused by her actions. Why was she hugging him? He was fine. A little exhausted emotionally from baring his soul to her like this, but he was all right. He then thought on it some more before it hit him. Oh.

"She isn't so strong in my mind anymore, Aurora," he stated quietly, pausing for a moment. Evans had to be the reason she hugged him. After all, it would be a year next October since her death. A year? Had it really been that long? "She made her choice, and it wasn't me. And I've made mine."

"I know, but, still, I'm sorry." Her eyes were soft and somber. "Is there anything I can do?"

"A kiss to make it better?" he joked with a devilish smirk. He laughed when she rolled her eyes. It was easy being around her. A little nerve-wracking at first, but he was finding his nerves calming the more they spoke. "You know, though, the man in the Ministry was correct, however."

She glanced at him, eyes narrowing. "About what?"

"You would keep the darkness inside me at bay." When she seemed confused, he continued. "I mean, we all know my record when it comes to love. I become obsessive, possessive even sometimes. I'd be focused entirely on you. The rest of the world be damned."

She rolled her eyes again and laughed. "You really want that kiss, don't you?"

"Maybe." When she laughed softly, eyes glancing to the floor again, he leaned in towards her. Brushing back a few loose curls, he tucked them behind her ear neatly. His eyes stared deeply in to hers. He smiled when she licked her lips expectantly. He almost pulled back from her and gave in to his fear. Inhaling his courage and pushing aside his concerns, though, he leaned in fully a moment later, his lips brushing against hers. It was stupid. He knew that. But he had to know. Just one kiss. That was all it'd take. One kiss.

The familiar jolt of electricity shot through him the second their lips met. He inhaled sharply, pulling her closer instinctively. When they both fell back against the bed again, he chuckled against her, his arms wrapping protectively around her. It was right. He couldn't deny that. It felt right. All of it. The kiss. Her in his arms. It felt right. Better than he had ever imagined even. Better than it had ever been with Evans the one time he had drunkenly kissed her his fifth-year.

"Well?" she asked a moment later, her lips swollen just a bit.

"You'll do quite nicely, I suppose," he replied dryly with his dark eyes sparkling in amusement. He chuckled when she hit his chest again.

"You're an arse."

"I am," he agreed with a nonchalant shrug. Whom was he to dispute the truth? He was an arse, but he could be a loving one perhaps. If the right person came along, that was. He was already feeling his own armor chip away with every day around Harrison. She would certainly destroy it the rest of the way. Of that he had no doubt.

"So . . ."

"So," he replied as the silence between them droned on. Now that he was thinking on it, maybe he shouldn't have kissed her so soon. He still had questions that needed answering, people trying to hurt him. Maybe that was the entirely wrong thing to do. Maybe he should have waited.

"You're already regretting it, aren't you?" she asked quietly, pulling back from him.

"No." He shook his head. "It's not that."

"Then what?"

"I'm just, well, thinking." He winced inwardly and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"About?"

"Things." When he heard her loud groan a moment later, he turned to her.

"It's like pulling teeth with you, you know that? Just come out with it, will you? I'm a big girl. I can handle it."

"Handle what?" He was beyond confused now.

"With whatever you're thinking about so intensely. I can handle it."

He shrugged. "I don't have a specific thing in mind, Sinistra. Not really. It's only a few questions that I still have. Nothing of importance."

"Clearly they are if you're carrying on the way you are."

"What?"

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you haven't noticed you've been staring off for a better half of three minutes without so much as even looking at me since our kiss."

"I don't regret it. I give you my word. That's not what I was thinking about. Not really."

"Then what?"

"It's too soon for this. Isn't it? I mean, let's be honest. This the longest I've seen you in years, not to mention I almost killed you earlier."

"You made a mistake."

He glanced at her, staring. "You truly do see no fault in me, don't you?"

"Fault?" She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Severus, I hate to tell you this, but you're human. You're going to screw up royally from time to time, and this was one of them." She laid a hand atop of his. "Demetri told me how you gave your mother your wand so she could heal me, how you regretted your actions. I mean, it's not a free pass, but . . . why dwell on it when we have jackarses out there trying their damnedest to turn you dark?"

"Yeah." He then frowned as he recalled something. "About that," his voice trailed off. "The other day in Diagon Alley. Before you showed up and defended me, I mean." He shrugged. "One of the men, they had claimed the Order had created some potion that stole one's magic." When he noticed Aurora's eyes dart far from his, his eyes narrowed on her. So she did know something more about that. "You know about this potion?"

"Of course I know about that," she replied surprisingly snotty. "I was, after all, the one who gave you the antidote to it."

He couldn't understand her reaction. Why had her mood shifted so suddenly with him? He frowned slightly and stared at her. Clearly, she had become offended by his question. But why?

"I recall that, but I don't understand. How do you know about that potion?" He watched her run a hand through her dark curls and stare off at the wall with tightly pressed together lips. "Aurora?" he said quietly. "Please answer me."

She scoffed before she turned to him. Everything about her screamed anger and contempt. But why was she so upset? He still didn't get that. It was just a question. He wasn't accusing her of anything untoward. He just wondered if she knew about it, which she clearly did.

"My mother created it, okay?" she snapped, her jaw clenching tightly.

"Your mother?"

"Yeah, unfortunately, I wasn't hatched," she huffed "but I may as well have been."

"I don't follow." There was so much hatred in her voice now. She had gone cold, harsh, angry even. What did her mother have to do with any of this? He was missing something.

"My mother, Severus," she replied, as if that answered everything. When he still didn't seem to understand, she sighed heavily and tugged on a few of her curls in utter frustration. "She worked at St. Mungo's as one of the main Healers."

He nodded his head. He knew this, as he had dealt with Syra on two separate occasions.

"Well, that was sort of a cover, I guess." She moved from him and stood up before she started to pace in front of the bed. She seemed to be at a loss for words temporarily, but he waited patiently. "I mean, she's not an Order member. Not by any means, and honestly she hates Dumbledore more than me even," she explained, the words tumbling out of her mouth quickly.

He frowned at this revelation. Her mother hated her? He hadn't gotten that feeling from Syra.

"But every now and then, her objectives align with Dumbledore's so they'd work together. I don't know the whole stupid thing, because frankly my mother is dead to me. But, well, from what I do know is he needed some method to subdue Death Eaters quickly without, you know, killing them." Her anger was clearly affecting her greatly, as she passed back and forth in front of him wildly. She reminded him of a caged animal, ready at moment's notice to attack. "So, he asked her to devise a way to achieve that, and she did. Created that stupid potion or whatever the hell it is you accidentally touched that day. It doesn't destroy your magic, though. It just suppresses it somehow."

"You've seen it before then?"

"Oh, yes," Aurora replied bitterly. "Dumbledore thought I'd be so proud to know my mother created it. He even went so much as to tell me, and get this," she paused, holding a hand up, "And I quote 'Your mother does in fact care for you and your safety. This potion proves that, my dear.' Proves it?" She scoffed, shaking her head in pure disgust. "No. What it proves is she's a conniving bitch who can fake with the best of them. Pretend she's all for the Greater Good when in the end she's just biding her time and coming up with more and more ways to achieve her ultimate dream of the perfect child, one who isn't a frequent disappointment to her."

He winced again, not bothering to hide it. Clearly, she and her mother didn't get along at all. He hadn't known that. Or if she had told him, it was long ago. He needed to get her on another topic before her anger awakened her magic accidentally.

"You said also that day you weren't supposed to be there." He watched her pause in her pacing and stare at him. "Where were you supposed to be?"

"Far from you," she stated bluntly. He forced himself not to react to her words. "There was no telling what the timeline would or wouldn't do. There still isn't. And at the time I didn't know about what you saw, your Future self, any of that. All I knew was that Evans had died, and you had been looking into time travel. So, I just assumed you had tried to come back to save her, and it didn't work. There's always consequences to time travel. People being un-born, soulmates never being found. I didn't want that to happen, so I stayed away."

He said nothing. While he understood her reasoning, he did think it was a bit foolish. She should have been there with him instead of off saving the world. She wasn't a savior after all.

"People seem to think of time as being linear when it really isn't. We just perceive it as linear because it's easier for our minds to comprehend it that way. It's really actually quite fluid if you think about it. A change here, like giving a lollipop to You-Know-Who or showing him any sort of affection growing up, and he could have never wanted to go evil. Choosing kindness instead."

Severus wasn't sure her analogy worked, but didn't have the heart to tell her that. Instead, he nodded slowly and watched her resume her frantic animalistic pacing again. A part of him wanted to grab her and pull her back into his arms, letting her know everything was going to be okay. Another part, however, didn't know what else to do but wait.

"The possibilities are quite endless. It's why people go mad trying to figure out one's future, because it's not set in stone. It never is. That's why true Seers are rare. I mean, like, extremely rare. Nothing is ever set in stone."

"Even fixed points?" he inquired.

"Well, they can be bent depending on the point," she answered with a shrug. It seemed she was starting to become lost in her thoughts. "Say you go back in time to save your future wife from death."

He stared at her, unable to speak. She had to know what she was saying, right? Though, judging by the look on her face, he wasn't certain.

"You go back several years in the past. Now, Croaker's Law should take effect, right?" She didn't wait for his reply. "But as long as you remain there, you're safe. The Ministry doesn't seem to like telling people that for obvious reasons. The Unspeakables usually figure it out and go and retrieve you, but say they didn't this time. You go back. Meet your younger self. With that action, you've already destroyed your timeline. You have nothing to go back to. So the fixed points have to bend, alter themselves in the timeline, the universe in other words, your actions created."

"All right. Then, what you're saying is you believe your death is a fixed point?" When her head jerked up, he scratched his head. Maybe that wasn't what she was saying on second thought.

"What? No. I don't think that at all. He didn't seek me out. He sought you out."

"Because he believed I would approach you when I'm ready."

"Yes, but, Severus, that doesn't make sense." She shook her head. "If my death was a fixed point, then he'd try to bend it. And he didn't."

"He gave me more time than he had with you."

"But did he, really? I mean, think about it. Did he really give you more time with me? No. He didn't. He left it up to you to decide when to seek me out. So, my death can't be a fixed time. Not to mention, because of his screwing with time, he's altered so many things dramatically that he may have created one now. I don't know. Time will tell that, but he did seem to awaken something. These people coming after you, I mean."

"What?" She was talking a mile a minute. He was really having to try to follow her logic now, and he was having a tremendously difficult time doing that.

"That and the Fate's Warning popping up all over the place. That's what I was investigating, the Fate's Warning." She turned suddenly and paced back the other way. "Though, it is strange, I suppose." Her voice trailed off, and she bit her bottom lip deep in thought.

"What is?"

"Well, every place that suffered extreme amount of damage had one carved into its side somewhere. Now, they usually signify—"

"Events the Fates have set to happen," he interrupted, noticing her surprised smile. "I've heard this from Morgana with Demetri earlier," he explained.

"Good for them." She laughed softly before she shrugged, turning away from and resuming her pacing. "So, you understand then. The fact that each place marked with Fate's Warning was destroyed means that whoever these people are, fanatics or worse, are destructive to the timeline. Which means they're likely causing more disruptions to it than your Future self had, which is saying something."

"But why? Why do any of this?"

"No idea. I mean, Mother was going on to Dad about you being a descendent of the Ashmores, but that piece is still missing."

"These people want me to go dark."

"Yeah, I heard that. You being on some path they want you on. Obviously, they're going to try to hurt your family to get to you. Every bastard in the book tries that approach after all."

He nodded slowly. "Which is why the man was going to kill you in front of me," he said.

"I suppose," she replied with another shrug.

"You think there was more to it than that?"

"Well, don't you?" she asked, stopping momentarily to look at him. "He kills me. You kill him. And what, that suddenly makes you become a dark wizard?"

"I care for you, though."

"Yes, but I'm not so important in your life that you can't live without me, Severus," she drawled. "You'll be sad for a bit, but you'd move on eventually."

Did she truly believe that? Perhaps she didn't know him as well as _she_ thought. He frowned and watched her resume her pacing again.

"So, why do they want you dark?" She stopped again and glanced at him, chewing on her bottom lip. "You can cast both Light and Dark magic, right?"

"Yes."

"And you don't feel anything, I don't know, strange casting Light magic?"

"Strange?" Just what was she insinuating exactly?

"Yeah, like, your insides burning or anything?"

He stood up from the bed, glaring at her. "Are you asking me if I have some sort of aversion to Light magic?"

"Well, it's not like I've seen you cast loads of Light spells after all, Severus. I mean, you could have some sort of reaction to it for all I know."

"By your line of logic, if I did, then what? I'm destined to be Dark?"

"No! Circe, that's not what I'm saying at all. We're not all Light or Dark for Merlin's sake. I am only trying to figure things out."

He turned his wrist slightly and felt his wand slip from his holster into his hand.

"Severus?"

" _Expecto Patronum_ ," he cast, the familiar silvery doe leaping from the tip of his wand a second later. "As you can see, I can cast Light magic just fine," he bristled before he noticed her eyes on his Patronus and her face falling for a brief second before she adopted a more neutral look. He winced inwardly and ended his spell. That was stupid, so stupid, of him.

"Yes, I can see that. Thank you." Her voice was even. If he hadn't seen her face earlier, he wouldn't have known he had hurt her feelings. "Do you have any other questions for me?"

"I'm sorry," he stated, reaching for her arm and noticing her take a step away from him.

"I should go." She whirled around and left, leaving Severus alone once more.

Just once he'd like not to insert his foot into his mouth. Just once. Was that too much to ask for?


	9. Connections

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for quick updates! Hope all of you have a wonderful week. Enjoy, and many thanks to Snapeswidow for helping me with Demetri.

So far, he had found several empty bedrooms, a kitchen where his parents were with Harrison making dinner for everyone, and various numbers of storerooms, but he hadn't found the room Aurora was in. He needed to apologize to her, to make things right again. Why did he always get like this? Why couldn't it just be perfect the first time around? Just once he'd like an easy time at something. He was tired of having to go through hell just to get a sliver of happiness. Hadn't his luck changed lately?

Walking into yet another room, Severus almost immediately regretted it when he saw the room's only occupant sitting at a table. It wasn't Aurora unfortunately, but the other dark-haired witch.

Demetri looked up from the book she was reading and raised an eyebrow at him the moment the door opened. "It's not polite to stare, Severus," she joked.

His brows knit together briefly before he inclined his head. "I apologize. I wasn't aware you were in here." He turned to leave to move on.

"Where else would I be?" she asked before sighing as he turned. She hooked the heel of her boot on the chair opposite hers then, pushing it out from the table. "You don't have to apologize; nor do you have to leave. Sit."

He kept his back to her and mumbled quietly, "You obviously haven't spoken with Aurora then."

"Why do you ask?"

He turned back finally and stared at her. "Oh no!" He raised his hands up. "I'm not that foolish."

She arched another dark brow. "I've known you for how long now?"

"A bit." He then glanced back to the door before his shoulders sagged in silent resignation. "Fine. Might as well upset you too while I'm at it since I've apologized to every other witch in this damned house already at least once."

She smirked as he took her bait. "I doubt you can tick me off any more than you did the first time we met, but if you wish to try, by all means." She gestured to the empty chair across from her.

He reluctantly sat down.

She leaned back, crossing her ankles under the table. "So how was your talk with Aurora?"

He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. There was no way the witch didn't know. He stared at her for a few more moments before he sighed. Maybe Aurora hadn't come to see her after all. But then where was she if she hadn't come to see Demetri? He turned back to the door. He had only explored a bit of the manor. What if she had found a secret room and was locked inside? Or she had left? He sighed and turned back. That was absurd. She could take care of herself. And she wasn't by any means a damsel in distress after all. She could handle herself . . . and him. He bit back a groan at his lewd thought and sighed heavily.

"I apologized . . . and then opened my mouth and it all went to hell like always. The end."

Demetri snorted. "It went to hell? You act like she ran screaming from the Manor, which I know she hasn't." She leaned forward, clasping her hands in front of her on the table. "You are in love with a woman you barely know, your memories and emotions are warring with each other, and yet you think everything will be easy? I'd worry if you didn't screw something up, Severus."

"You didn't see her when she left," he replied quietly.

"No, I didn't. "

He sighed heavily again, running a hand through his hair. "It was all going so well before then. And then she had to make a comment insinuating I can't cast Light magic or that I'm naturally Dark or whatever the hell she was trying to say." His earlier annoyance came out in his voice. He turned to her. "I should have chosen a different spell. I know that now. I mean, fuck!"

She furrowed her brow trying to understand what he was getting at and failed. "Did you explain it to her, the outcome of the spell? Or did you just let her go, assuming what she will from it?"

"Explain what? That my Patronus is still a goddamn doe for some reason, Demetri, when I don't give a flying fuck about that little redheaded, self-centered witch from my youth anymore? I said I was sorry, and she didn't want to hear it. At all. And I get it. I do. If the roles were reversed, I'd be furious and hurt just as much as she is."

"Gods, the two of you are so much alike. I swear the Fates put you two together to see who would strangle the other first." Demetri shook her head in disbelief. It was positively laughable. Honestly. "And you just let her go? Let her insecurity eat away at her? A simple sorry won't make her understand, Severus, no matter how much she says it does. You said yourself, after all, if the role were reversed, you'd be just as mad, just as hurt. Well, what would you want in this situation? A simple apology or an explanation?"

"What would I want?" He scoffed, shaking his head. "A year ago, I didn't have these thoughts. These... I was ..." He sighed, letting his head fall forward as the words stopped. "You're right. I am at war with myself. It's constant now. I—she won't listen, Demetri! She won't!" He nearly shouted at her as his turbulent emotions took over again. "And explain? Explain what? That I love her? A woman I know nothing about, that I can't even fucking talk around, be around?" He tugged on his hair and growled. "I don't understand how he could function like this. Be around her. She's worse than Amortentia! Of course I was the idiot who had to kiss her," he snarkily drawled. "Because I just had to know. Well, isn't that fucking perfect? Now I can't even be around her without—and what was she thinking? She knows, Demetri! She knows!" He was ranting. Even he could tell that. He'd be surprised if she understood anything he had just said. He didn't even understand it all, and he was the one who had said all of it.

"And did she reject you? Laugh at you?" Demetri cocked her head.

He blinked, seemingly coming back to himself. Laugh at him? "What? When?"

"When you kissed her, Severus?" Demetri had to refrain from rolling her eyes. "Aurora cares for you. That I can assure you. She wouldn't be doing what she's doing, wouldn't have left you without someone to befriend who wouldn't judge you because of that tattoo on your left arm and what it meant, if she didn't care." She sighed and leaned closer to him before continuing "I will hex you if you tell her I told you this, but Aurora has been in love with you for years. She always talked about you, whether it a story from Hogwarts or a trinket she saw in a shop that reminded her of you. She never acted on those feelings, though, because she didn't think you would receive them well." Which judging by his current state of mind was a blessing clearly.

"She did?" He stared at Demetri with a slow smile spreading across his face. A moment later, though, he growled, tugging on his long hair again. "Damn it! No, Demetri! No! Gah! I'm going to need therapy for this! You can't say things like that. It just it makes this worse! Do you understand? I've never—my first girl I liked—oh, why am I telling you this?" He then growled. "Because I'm pathetic and don't have any other friends obviously," he mumbled to himself before he continued. "Love for me is obsessive, dangerous, and... I'm going mad. Like—I don't know—Dumbledore mad!"

Demetri grabbed his wrists and removed his hands from his hair, placing them flat on the table without letting them go. "You think you can't love her because of what happened in your past? If everyone thought like that, the world would be miserable. Aurora isn't Lily, Severus, and I doubt you are the same man you were in school. Love isn't supposed to be easy." She squeezed his wrists to get his attention. "And don t ever compare yourself to Dumbledore. My father told me stories of the 'Great leader of the Light' that would make the Dark Lord cringe."

"Of course Aurora's not Lily. That's absurd," he grumbled. "She's a much better kisser than Evans obviously." He then frowned, glancing to where she held his wrists. "Calm and collected. That used to be me. I could lie easily. Pretend I didn't have a heart. It didn't hurt as much, you know? But around her, I, I can't. Think, breathe, you name it. I just can't." He closed his eyes.

"That, my dear friend, is what being in love is." She patted his hands before she let them go.

"Well, I hate it," he groused, not meaning his words in the slightest.

She laughed at the juvenile whine to his voice. "It will get better. Once the two of you stop trying to save each other's feelings and just admit the truth."

This time he allowed his head to fall all the way forward and slam against the table. The brief flicker of pain was a welcome sight, so he pulled back up and let it drop again.

Demetri shook her head and slipped her hand back across the table to keep his forehead from hitting the hard surface a third time. "Giving yourself a concussion isn't gonna help matters."

He paused and glanced at her. "Says you." He then sighed heavily. "How do I fix this, Demetri?"

"Talk with her, not at her, but with her. Let her know how you feel, explain things, and for Circe's sake don t let her get away with 'I know' and 'It's all right.' Let her know you want to know how she feels and that you won't scoff at her or reject her."

"Talk?" He stared at her before he scoffed. "I realize you're a woman, but, witch, when I look at her all I can think about right now is snogging the hell out of her, holding her, and you know, other things." Why had he told her that? He shouldn't have told her that. He really shouldn't have.

"I never said you two couldn't shag like bunnies afterwards, but talking things out, knowing where each other stand helps . . . even if it's after you two release all these years of pent up frustration."

"Her frustration. I only have a year of this, thank Merlin." He then rubbed the back of his neck as a thought occurred to him. "Demetri?" He waited until she was looking at him again. "I couldn't help, but notice certain things." He rubbed at the back of his neck again and sighed. "I am correct to assume you're a pureblood, being related to Morgana, does that mean you're related to Aurora then?" He tried not to wince as he waited. "If so, how?"

She shrugged. "Merlin put a curse on my family, well on Morgana's blood line, that made it so every child born would be male. So, imagine my father's surprise when my parents were told they were having a girl." Demetri smirked. "Now imagine there being two girls instead of just little ol' me?" She pushed ahead, watching his eyes grow. "Fearing that my twin and me would be reincarnation of dear old Morgana, Dad gave one baby away and kept me. He moved us to a place where magical folk and Muggle literally lived side by side to curb my darker side. It wasn't until I met Aurora at university that we realized we were twins separated at birth."

He stared at her, his mouth slightly opened. They were... When he started to cough and wheeze a few moments later, he realized he had stopped breathing. "What?" They couldn't be... "Twins?"

She blinked owlishly at him trying to hold back her laughter. "Sev..." was all she managed before giggling uncontrollably. Wiping tears from her eyes as she got her laughter under control, she shook her head. "I'm sorry. I had to. You sounded so sincere." She softly laughed. "No we aren't twins or closely related. We may be somewhere along the family tree, but I've never looked that far back."

He glared at her, feeling his familiar annoyance returning as he stood. Why did both think it was funny to tease him like that? "Good. Because if you were twins, she's clearly the prettier one!"

"Oh you slay me." She laughed again. "I can always tell Sin that you've been perving on the two of us so much to see 'similarities.'

He took a step towards her with his eyes flashing before he growled. "Consider yourself lucky."

She raised an eyebrow, not intimidated in the least. "What, that I'm not a twin or that you compare me and Aurora?"

"I do no such thing!" he snapped, glaring at her.

She giggled. "Shall I grab the Pensive and replay what you just said then?"

He growled, clenching his jaw.

Demetri rolled her eyes and patted him on the cheek. "You're adorable when you're angry. "

He flinched slightly from her touch before he glanced away. "Lovely."

"I'm sorry. Your question was just so random, and I couldn't help but scare the piss out of you."

He frowned but said nothing again.

"I can see where the question came from, though. You aren't the only one to notice. We once had a professor who couldn't tell us apart in class and just revered to us as you."

He glanced at her and snorted. "Interesting."

She shrugged. "I am taller than Sin, though, and my eyes are blue. I'm left handed, and my hair is bluer black than her solid black."

"I suppose." He then moved on to another topic. "What do you know about her mother then?"

Demetri bit her lip and narrowed her eyes as she thought. "Only that she's a healer."

He nodded. "She—her mother was brought up, and it seemed a contentious relationship if ever there is one. I thought at first she was angry with me, but..." He then glanced at her. "She truly has talked about me? Went on and kept things?"

"She rarely spoke of her family. Neither of us did actually. But she did talk about you. For hours and hours some nights." She smirked. "I found an old box that had copies of Christmas cards she had sent you and clippings from the paper when they announced the new Masters in England as well as an announcement when you were hired at Hogwarts."

He jerked back slightly. "What?"

She shrugged. "All females do it, Severus. I had one when I was fourteen filled with pictures I'd taken of a boy I liked."

"No. Not that." He then stood up and walked over to the window. He tried to think back on his past. There was something there, but he couldn't remember it. Why couldn't he recall it? It was something he received in the post shortly after he was announced as Potions Master. His eyes then widened, and he whirled around.

Demetri was startled when he turned abruptly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just I have to go and see her. Thank you for, you know, calming me down again."

"You're welcome, Severus. Expect my therapy bill in the mail," she joked as she got to her feet. There was something strange about the way his mood had shifted earlier, as if something had just dawned on him. "You will share with the rest of the class later, yeah?"

"If I'm right," he stated offhandedly. "Now, where would she be? I've already checked the downstairs rooms and half of these."

"She's in the library. She figured that was the last place you'd look for her."

"The library?" He snorted, a thought springing to his mind before he cleared his throat and tugged on his sleeve. He glanced at Demetri sideways, hoping he hadn't flushed at that particular thought. He surely would need to get these thoughts under control again if he hoped to gain any bit of control again. "Thank you, Demetri."

"You're welcome."

He turned to leave, stopping when she called back to him.

"Just please, you know, don't shag in the library. Some of us would like to read every now and then while we're stuck here, and it's just not something we want to come across."

His eyes narrowed on her before he opened his mouth a few times. No. He finally decided to say nothing and left the room a few moments later, heading to where Demetri had said Aurora was. He wasn't going to take her bait again.

* * *

Sure enough, he found her right where Demetri said she was. He paused in the entryway of the round room full of bookcases that spanned top to floor all the way around and watched Aurora. She leaned across the ladder and was attempting to grab a book on the far side of a shelf. He thought about alerting her to his presence, but decided against it. The last thing he needed was for her to slip from the ladder and injure herself severely. When she grabbed the book a moment later and was back safely on the ladder and slowly climbed down, he decided now he'd alert her.

"Demetri said I'd find you here," he started, noticing her shoulders hunch up instantly.

"Did she now?" Aurora replied a moment later. "Well, you found me. Congratulations." She then turned away from him to grab the stack of books she had set off to the side.

This wasn't going well, but he trudged forward. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have cast that spell." When she paused and turned to him, he continued. "It was the Lightest spell I could think of, though, at the time. I didn't mean to upset you. I give you my word."

"All right." She shrugged and headed towards him with her stack of books. When she tried to move past him, though, he didn't move. "Do you mind?"

"Please? Could you just talk about this?"

"What's to talk about, Severus? You still are hung up on Evans. I'm just here."

"Is that what you think? That our kiss earlier was me trying to pretend you were her?"

She opened her mouth before she firmly snapped it shut, thinking better on her words. "Please, Severus. Just let me get passed."

"No. Not until we talk about this." She wasn't listening, just as he knew she wouldn't. He was half-tempted to stick her to one of the chairs in the room.

"Severus," she said again, her voice wavering slightly. "Please?"

"I didn't mean to upset you, hurt you like that. I'm sorry that I did. But you're wrong, though." He slowly grabbed her upper arms, so she didn't run. "I don't know why it's still a doe. I truly don't. Evans isn't that strong in my mind anymore. She hasn't been for almost a year."

"If you so much as tell me that's because of me, I'm going to break your nose," she warned.

"No. It's not because of that. It's because I read her letter she sent me. She looked at me and only saw the darkness. In her mind, I was nothing more than a murderous, bigoted coward regardless of the fact I have never killed anyone in my life."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You don't see that in me, Aurora. I don't know why, but you don't. You see the good, small that it is in me. You don't believe I'm a lost cause as she did." She turned her head away from him. "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"It's fine."

"No. It's not, though." He gently pushed her chin so she'd look at him again. "It's really not fine. You've been nothing but kind to me, and I return your kindness with pain and hurt."

She scoffed and shook her head. "You think this is easy for me, Severus? Because it's not. It really isn't." She turned away again. "There are so many things that could happen now. So many variables we haven't even considered. And a part of me just wants to say screw it and be with you. Another part of me knows that's the worst idea ever because if I lose you, then . . ."

"You're not going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere."

"You say that now, but these people, they can disrupt the timeline, Severus. Do you understand that? They can make it so I was never born. Make it so I died long ago. That we never met. I could go on, but I think you see what I'm saying."

"They could certainly try, but they don't have all the pieces."

"Neither do we," she pointed out, frowning at him.

"Actually, we do. We just haven't had time to put them all together."

"What? I don't follow."

"Demetri said you collected every news article concerning me, my getting my Potions mastery, accepting the position at Hogwarts, etc."

"Well, yeah, but what does that have anything to do with this?"

"What if you weren't the only one following me? What if someone else was too?"

"What?" Her eyes narrowed even more. "I still don't get it."

"They want me to choose the darkness, to embrace it. Right?"

"Yeah."

"So, theoretically, they'd know I took the Dark Mark when I turned seventeen, correct?" She nodded slowly. "Yet only a few people knew that. You, Regulus, Albus, the Dark Lord, and a few of his Inner Circle members at the time."

"Okay, but we're not dealing with regular people, Severus. These people after you are likely Unspeakables or something."

"And they were alerted to me after my Future self came back."

"What are you saying?"

"They, or rather one of them, said that they had a good thing going on before my future self came back and destroyed that timeline. Now, think about it. What did the Ministry have going on?"

"I don't know. I haven't been in England for a few years now."

"The war ended with the Dark Lord's disappearance at the Potter's house last October. Since then the Ministry has been rounding people up, sentencing them to Azkaban with very little judicial oversight and care frankly as to whom it hurts."

"Okay. But what does that have to do with you?"

"We learned this past year several things about my mother's side of the family."

"Severus, stop. Wait. What does any of this have to do with you? You're not making sense."

"Please. Just indulge me for a moment. It will. I promise." When she tipped her head forward, he continued. "After I was born, a descendant of the Gaunt family approached my maternal grandparents and stated he'd return the Prince family name if they'd accept his marrying my mother. They agreed, and Roger, my stepfather, first entered the picture."

"All right. So, what? This member of the Gaunt family is the reason this is happening?"

"It took me a moment to realize it, but the Dark Lord was a descendant of the Gaunt family, Aurora." He trudged forward. "My parents were taken from me; my dad by house arrest after a bombing he was blamed for and my mother by Roger and later the Dark Lord. All that was done so I would hate Muggles easier. These people, the ones after me, that want me on this darker path, they've been at it for a very long time."

"I don't follow."

"My future self, he told me about Dumbledore's manipulations, showed me Evans wasn't the one I should long for, and hinted at you instead. Now, he stated it was to make my life better, to make the boy's life better as well. He could very well have kept it to himself about these people, but I don't think he knew about them, that he had ever met them, which means whatever he did in his timeline—he had already chosen that darker path at one time and they didn't see a need to interfere. However, I haven't. Do you understand?"

"No."

He snorted. "I don't begin to assume what his life was like, but judging by what I saw from him, he had been a wreck after Evans's death. He didn't get over her as I have. He likely embraced the darkness to keep the pain he felt deep inside at bay." He noticed her nodding as she followed his line of logic. "You asked me earlier if I had any issue casting Light magic. I showed you I didn't. But it hit me later when I was talking to Demetri that while I don't have issues casting it, dark spells are easier for me to cast. I'm sadly used to the darkness, Aurora, as was he."

"But we're not naturally predisposed to Light or Darkness, though. That's absurd."

"It is absurd I agree, but these people seem to think it's not for some reason. Nevins, if it was really him, stated they weren't from the Time room. So, naturally, they had to be from another."

"Hall of Prophecy then?" she offered with a shrug.

"Either that or Death," he stated. "They're the one ones that make sense. And it's clear they're Unspeakables after all, as other Aurors wouldn't be bothered with trivial things as time travel."

"Okay, so they're from either Hall of Prophecy or the Death room. How does that help us?"

"My Future self coming back in time disrupted the timeline severely because loads of events were changed in a short amount of time. He chose carefully what to alter and what not to, though. What if his coming back, his method of returning, meant he reappeared in the Time room?"

"That'd make the most sense since there'd be quite a lot of Time Turners. And to do this, come back this far, he had to need a lot of them to go back that far in his past."

"Precisely. That'd require loads of magic, wouldn't it?"

"Probably, yeah. Why?"

"So, where would all the energy dissipate to when he reappeared in the past Time room?"

She shrugged. "Probably to something that requires a lot—Oh." Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped slightly. "Wait. Kingsley always talked about a structure in the Death Room. He said the one time he was there he heard voices, one that sounded like his dead grandmother. Called it the Veil, I think." She then shook her head. "You think the energy went to that?"

"Yes. It likely sent of a surge of energy."

"Which made anyone in the Death room hear the voices louder than before. But they'd surely just leave, wouldn't they?"

"Unless they couldn't. I hardly know anything about those rooms."

"Yeah. So, if we're going to assume that theory is correct, how does that help us? I mean, operating on the theory the dead had whispered in the ears of the people who were in the room at the time, why then are they so dead-set on you becoming dark?"

"Well, that's easy," a voice drawled from a portrait above them. Their heads whipped up to see a severe-looking wizard staring down at them. "It's not the dead whispering through the Veil anymore."

"What?"

"Far be it from me, a long-dead wizard in a portrait left abandoned for centuries, but it sounds like the Veil has become a gateway to Dark Magic or darkness or whatever you kids call it these days."

"Um . . ." Aurora glanced at Severus who stared back at her. "Who are you?"

"Me?" The wizard shrugged in his portrait. "Lord Ashmore." When their eyes widened, he sighed exasperatedly. "Not that idiot son of mine, Lorian. Merlin! Everyone thinks I'm him. Had it been up to me, I'd have killed the little bastard long ago. I didn't even want children, I'll have you know." He held up a finger. "But, unfortunately, my wife did, and so we extended the bloodline and created the little shit that ruined our good name. I'm Lord Marcus Ashmore."

When Severus heard Aurora's laughs next him, he glanced at her and raised a brow. While he'd admit this wizard did seem to have a sense of humor he could appreciate, it hardly warranted her doubling over and giggling like a Hufflepuff.

"He sounds just like you," she said through fits of laughter.

Severus frowned.

"Well, yes, dear, he is after all my great-great grandson. I would hope he'd sound a bit like me," the wizard stated with an eyeroll.

Brushing aside Aurora's giddiness, Severus decided not to waste any more time. "Do you recall what happened here then? Between my great-grandfather and great-grandmother?" He caught the other wizard's brief look of pain before the man nodded in his portrait.

"I do. The question is, do you want to know?"

"Yes. Please," Severus replied, holding the man's kind blue eyes—his father's eyes he noticed a few seconds later.

"As you wish." The man sighed heavily, steepling his fingers in front of his face. "We had arranged Lorian's marriage with Emma, your great-grandmother. She was from a respectable family, Selwyn in fact, and we had hoped, all of us, she'd be able to help him become a better man, calm him in other words. We soon learned, though, we had made a grave mistake. Her family and ours had tried to absolve the marriage, but he took her away from all of us. The Aurors didn't find them."

Severus frowned as he listened. A part of him wished he had asked his father to join them, but he needed to know. He'd inform his dad later.

"And when they returned several months later, she was pregnant with Ismerelda, your grandmother. Lorian seemed happier, calmer than we had ever seen, and Emma—well, she seemed quiet, resigned, but alive. We, of course, didn't learn of the circumstances for the pregnancy until much later when Emma died in childbirth with Caleb. So, we turned a blind eye to her, not wanting to see that he was still hurting her behind closed doors." The man sighed heavily. "We had thought after Emma had passed that there would be some . . . hint of goodness in him that'd appear. There wasn't, though. Only darkness and evil. My wife and I finally had enough when we saw what Lorian had done to Caleb that night. We contacted the Aurors, left it up to them to deal with the mess we created."

"So, your son did die at the hands of the Aurors then?"

"Yes, and my grandson Caleb died at that hands of his father. My wife and I, we came to an arrangement with the Aurors. To hide Ismerelda away and give her a chance to live a normal life. To leave the Ashmore name behind her. We vowed never to speak of it again. My wife and I died a few years after we gave her away. We should have raised her, but instead we abandoned her. We were so ashamed of what our son had done we spread lies about him. The Aurors didn't refute it as we had provided most of our wealth to them. And so, the loving Lord Ashmore story was created."

Severus closed his eyes and sighed. There it was. The tragic story of his father's family. At least the Wizarding side of it.

"You were right earlier, Severus," the wizard declared from his portrait. "There is someone who has been watching you."

His eyes darted upwards back to the wizard. "What? How do you know this?" Both of his great-great grandparents would have been dead by the time he was born. So, what the man was saying didn't make any sense. "Who was watching me?"

"The Selwyn family. They didn't believe the story, but there was enough respect between our two families for them not to say so in public."

"How do you know they were watching me?"

"I'm a magic portrait, my dear great-great grandson," the wizard drawled. "The moment you and your father entered this manor, you became connected with us. Your memories became a part of us." He shrugged a moment later. "So, no, it wasn't this beautiful witch who sent you the congratulations when you received your position at Hogwarts. It was a matter of fact a Selwyn."


	10. Girls' Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks to Snapeswidow for helping me with Demetri again. Seriously, please show her some of the same awesome love you show me. :) The idea for this came from a conversation I had with her, so, you know, blame her. As always, enjoy. And thank you so much for your continued support.

A few hours later, Demetri narrowed her eyes as she caught the familiar head of long raven curls slip into the kitchen. _Well, well, look who it was._ She smirked as she quietly followed the other witch inside, intent on getting some much-needed answers from the evasive woman. Closing the door softly behind her, Demetri leaned against the varnished wood with crossed arms. "So, you were in that library an awfully long time with Severus, Sin." Her smirk widened when she caught Aurora's jump and a cookie falling to the floor consequently. "Tell me that he took my advice and the two of you didn't shag on every available surface in there, please?"

"For the love of Circe, Dem, you can't just sneak up on me like that," Aurora exclaimed, trying to catch her breath as she whirled around. "Wait. What?" She blinked.

"Yeah, well, you can't dump your friend onto some time travel bullshit, disguised as a teaching job in the Scottish countryside without so much as a 'by your leave,' but you did." She flicked her fingers, vanishing the fallen cookie and Accio'd another that she held out to her friend.

"Thanks." Aurora grabbed the cookie. "What makes you think we shagged in the library?"

"Severus damn near confessed to me if he wasn't afraid you'd hex his bits off, he'd have done more than kiss you earlier."

Aurora took a bite and seemed to consider this for a moment before she shrugged. "Not sure where he got that idea from. I'm not that violent." She then glanced at her. "Am I?"

Demetri snorted. "Oh, no, you slicing a wizard nearly in half would _never_ make anyone think that, Aurora."

"It was either I kill him or he kills me, and I'm not ready to leave yet. I still have things to do."

"It was a joke." Demetri rolled her steel-blue eyes." You two are so much alike it's scary."

"Well, thank you. I do love that I have Severus's dry wit." Aurora laughed before taking another cookie and sitting at the table.

Demetri pushed away from the door and with a flick of her wand set the kettle to boil on the stove. "Speaking of things you have left to do . . ." She arched an eyebrow as she took a seat across from her. "Someone owes me an explanation of why she left out major details of the supposed job offer that brought me from America to Scotland. Don't you think?"

"What do you mean? What'd I leave out?"

Demetri stared at her. "Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that there were Unspeakables out to kill Severus whom you told me to keep an eye on and try and befriend so he doesn't do anything stupid? Or maybe you could have warned me that you were doing more than just research on time travel? I had to sit there, trying to decipher Severus's ramblings all the while I was literally sitting on a bomb!"

"They're not out to kill him. Maybe irritate and possibly hurt him, but not kill him. They need him. And how was I going to know he'd leave Hogwarts? I'm not a mind reader after all." She then shrugged, taking another bite of her cookie.

"You could have warned me that something major may happen. For God's sake, Aurora, if I hadn't gone down to check on Severus when I did, I would have been in my quarters when the Fate's Warning blew." She pushed back from her chair as the kettle whistled and went about making the tea by hand to keep from strangling her friend. "I should thank whomever set it off though for destroying Morgana's portrait. It'll take at least a month for another one to be sent over from Salem."

"Warn you? Do you honestly believe I have all of this figured out? Because I don't. At all. Everything I was relying on, it's gone now with the attacks. I'm in the dark as much as you are now."

Demetri brought the tea service to the table and sat after pouring out two cups, one for her and the other for Aurora. "I'm sorry. It's just frustrating as hell sitting back and watching all this unfold, being smack dab in the middle of things and not knowing how to help."

Aurora smiled faintly towards her. "I'm sorry. When I asked you to take my place, I thought it'd be a good thing for you. To get away from everything."

Demetri shrugged and smiled back. "I can't say it isn't boring here. Trying to play babysitter and therapist to Severus is far better than being back home where the Wizarding half of the community hates me on account of my last name."

"Therapist?" Aurora snorted. "You mean, you actually got him to talk to you? Wow. Which spell did you use on him? And is there going to be lasting effects later I should know about?" she teased before running a hand through her thick dark curls while taking a sip from her cup.

"No spell. Just Absinthe." Demetri smirked.

"Wait. You got him drunk?"

"Yes, yes I did." She grinned like a Kneazle in a canary shop. "He was ranting and raving, not making a lick of sense, so I got him drunk to calm him down."

"Oh." Aurora picked at her cookie for a moment before she took another bite and looked away.

"Aurora?" All traces of humor were gone from Demetri's voice.

"What?" She turned back a moment later. The playfulness had been replaced with seriousness. Even Aurora's eyes, usually warm and kind, were now a shade darker, angrier or maybe sadder for some reason as she looked back at Demetri.

"Don't _what_ me, missy. Why do you look like I just kicked your puppy?"

"I do not look like that."

Demetri just stared at her, though.

"I don't! Because I have no puppy to kick. It's just little ol' me. That's it."

"Bullshit. You have me and Severus." By the Gods, the two of them were so alike it was downright scary. Both of them would open up only so far before they'd once again close up and shut down. It was positively infuriating. "Why did you go quiet when I told you I got Severus drunk?"

"No. Just forget it. It's stupid, Dem. It's fine." She forced her smile a bit more, her heart clearly not in it. "Did he say anything interesting? Like, you know, something I can lord over him?"

Demetri didn't take the bait, though. "Aurora Celestine Sinistra, you are a terrible liar." She watched her friend's face scrunch up, knowing that she had likely sounded like Aurora's mother. "Answer my question truthfully, and I'll answer yours."

Shaking her head and causing her curls to bounce slightly, she sighed and pushed herself up. She didn't need to know the answer that bad. "Nah. It's fine. Actually, I'm getting pretty tired, you know?" She headed for the door.

Demetri narrowed her eyes, though, and flicked her wand at the door, locking it. "Sin, please tell me what's wrong."

The minute Aurora heard the click, she groaned loudly. "Dem, don't. Just drop it. It's nothing important, and, really, I just want to go to bed. That's it."

Just want to go bed, Demetri's ass. There was no way Miss Night Owl herself was going to bed at seven-thirty. No. It was the weakest, lamest excuse Demetri had ever heard from her before. And she had heard some pretty lame ones over the years from the witch.

"Fine. You want to go sulk like a toddler at some imagined slight, who am I to stop you?" Demetri waved her wand and unlocked the door before she stood from the table and set their cups in the sink to wash. "Just do me a favor and try not to get killed or attacked while avoiding me." Lowering her head, she mumbled, "It's not like I care or anything."

"Avoiding you? How in the hell am I avoiding you?" Aurora turned back. "Because I'm not. I just need to sleep because, I mean, when one gets upset over a stupid thing like her friend drinking with the guy she likes, it's clearly bedtime. Okay? Happy now? I got a little jealous or something. I don't even know what it was even. Just something."

Demetri turned and stared at the other witch. She had to be joking. "Aurora, I am not after Severus. I may be a Le Fay, but I am not Morgana. I would never try to come between you and the man I know you've been in love with for years." She combed her fingers through her messy hair, gently tugging at the ends as she sighed. "He came to me half-crazed, looking for answers I didn't have. I already witnessed him lose consciousness because of what his future self did, so I was afraid he had finally snapped. I gave him my personal brewed Absinthe that has a mild calming Draught in it and just let him talk." She glanced at her friend. "Put yourself in my shoes, Sin. I came into this mess half-blind with vague information from you. I am all alone here, while you're out running around who knows where, doing who knows what, and I'm left wondering if you're lying hurt or dead somewhere."

Aurora's warm eyes fell once again to the floor. The silence stretched on for a minute before she finally spoke. "Well, of course you aren't after him, Dem. He's frustrating as hell and drives you up the wall, and sometimes you want to kill him." Her tone was light again, almost teasingly.

Demetri snorted. "Hex him, yes; kill him, no. You'd have my head if I killed the snarky bastard."

"That I would." She laughed quietly. "But you have to admit, he _is_ pretty sexy when he's angry."

"That he is." Demetri joined in laughing. "Got a nice ass on him too."

"Does he?" Aurora grinned. "Huh. Didn't notice that."

Rolling her eyes, Demetri snorted. "Liar."

"Liar?" She scoffed. "I didn't notice his arse because I'm, you know." Aurora grinned, wagging her eyebrows at her before she burst out laughing.

"More interested in the goods up front?" Demetri giggled when Aurora burst out laughing. "And the perv we know and love returns." Both witches giggled. "I missed this. Being able to joke and laugh with my best friend."

"Yeah. Me too." Aurora then laughed softly. "Don't suppose you have any more Absinthe with you? I could use a drink right about now."

"Does a bear shit in the woods? No. Wait. Don't answer that. I can only imagine what your foul mouth will say," Demetri teased before she summoned the bottle and prepared two glasses. "You know, your beau thinks we're related?"

Aurora laughed before she shook her head. "He did? Strange."

"Of course, naturally, I had to inform him that we were twins separated at birth."

Aurora doubled over laughing. "No?! You didn't!"

"I did." Demetri took a drink from her glass before continuing. "I had to tell him I was joking though when he looked like he was about to bolt."

She snorted. "Wow."

"He's too easy to rile up. He did tell me, though, that you are the more attractive twin."

She smiled, her dark eyes twinkling. "Really? Well, see now why I like him? He's smart."

"Hey." Demetri pouted before dissolving into another fit of giggles.

Aurora laughed, taking a drink before gagging. "Yuck. I don't know how you can like this crap."

"It's an acquired taste." Demetri shrugged. "It was all my father had in the liquor cabinet growing up. So, I may have stolen a bottle or two in my youth."

"Yeah. That I can believe."

"What can I say? Always been the wild child."

"And that's why I'm the good witch."

Demetri snorted. "Maybe now, but I remember a few times when I was the voice of reason."

"If you say so." Aurora smiled before she sighed. "So, what does the wise voice of reason have to say about the predicament we're in now?"

"What she's been saying. That you lock yourself and that wizard of yours into a room and shag each other senseless," Demetri joked. She then adopted a more neutral tone becoming more serious again. "Honestly, though, I think we need to figure out all the pieces we have already before going headlong into confronting the assholes who are attacking you and Severus. Try to get ahead of them if we can. Which is why I picked up a few books earlier in the library on. Before you and Severus sullied it of course." She held her glass up to Aurora before she took another sip. "I figured I could research the Fate's Warning and see if there's anything else connected with it that we don't already know."

"And did you find anything?"

"I realized Ancient Runes wasn't as dull a subject as I first thought when you consider that it was once a language. Why they don't teach that in school is beyond me." Demetri shook her head before she shrugged. "It seems Morgana knew more than she let on too. The Rune _can_ be safely activated by the person whom it involves, sort of like how it is with a Prophecy orb."

"Makes sense."

"Yeah. The Rune's failsafe, though, is to explode if tampered by an outside source, which we've seen firsthand. But, Aurora, it takes a massive amount of power to set off not just one but multiple at once. Somehow these Unspeakables must have known this. Leads me to think there had to be something in one of those runes that they didn't want anyone to see."

"Maybe. But how in the world do they get that sort of power, though? I mean, the Unspeakables I've dueled against—I don't know. Powerful isn't how I'd describe them."

"My theory? They steal it." Demetri ran a finger across the top of her empty cup as she thought. "Severus mentioned Dark Magic earlier, and it got me thinking. What is the darkest Magic one could possibly partake in but Necromancy? We all leave some sort of residual magic after all, whether it's casting a simple spell or Apparation. We also leave behind magic when we die, which we know is used in animating a portrait. What if these people had access to something that collected that magic? Hundreds of witches and wizards must die a day, right? So, that's a lot of untapped power."

"Necromancy?" Aurora stared at her with wide eyes. "But that's . . . wait." She got up, her mouth opening and closing several times before she gasped. "Do you understand what that means? Dem!" She stared at her horrified. "I . . . But . . . Dem!"

"No, I don't, but you're going to tell me, right?" she asked. If the other witch ran from the room without an explanation like Severus had, Demetri swore she'd stop telling them things.

Aurora started to pace back and forth in the kitchen, clearly working something out in her mind. If Demetri was correct and it was the darkest of all forms of Dark Magic they were dealing with, then all bets were off.

"But how does Severus work into it? He doesn't dabble in that sort of Dark Magic."

Demetri watched the other witch pace. "What if it's his intent they're after, Sin? I mean, let's think about it. What really classifies a spell as Dark or Light after all? A tickling jinx is harmless unless it's used to torture. And I know the Imperius is labeled as an Unforgivable because it's so Dark, but I know Mind Healers have used it in extreme cases of mentally-ill patients who could do harm to themselves when normal potions don t work to suppress the self-harm tendencies."

"What do you mean?"

Demetri shrugged. "They have to know that the power they need is Dark, so if they can get him to cast anything with his intent being revenge or the like, wouldn't that give them the Dark power they want from him without him being Dark himself?"

"I don't know. I think there has to be more to it than that. I mean, I don't know of any Inferi roaming the countryside lately. So, if it is Necromancy—I don't know. But it fits with what we learned earlier. That if his future self came back and showed up in the Time room, energy had to be displaced somewhere, likely to something that draws a lot of power, which is likely the Veil thing in the Ministry. Which may have been corrupted somehow by it, causing this. I don't know, though."

"I can keep researching it," Demetri said, pouring her another glass. "See if it's possible to collect or transfer Magic from the dead to an object or a wizard?"

Aurora glanced away, sighing and running a hand through her curls. "Just be careful, will you, Dem? I already had one friend who got obsessed with the Dark magic, and it ate him alive. And Severus, well, you met him."

"You forget my ancestor destroyed an entire kingdom out of jealousy and was labeled a dark sorceress. Let's not even mention my family's history with following Grindelwald, all right?" Demetri rested a hand atop of Aurora's. "I am always careful not to follow in my family's footsteps. Promise."

"Well, I've got the family history of Grindelwald as well, remember?"

"I do. That was another reason why I befriended you. We both needed someone to bitch about how we were such a disappointment to them because we didn't share their warped values."

"Hey, speak for yourself. I'm not a disappointment because I don't share her warped values. I'm a disappointment because Mother is a bitch who thinks anyone who isn't has some sort of defect. But, hey, it's family."

Demetri snorted. "I'm eternally grateful I've never met the woman. I'm sure it'd have ended with hexes being thrown around."

"Maybe from you, but no, Mother would find that barbaric. Why waste energy on you?" Aurora rolled her eyes. "Ugh." She held her glass out. "Another please."

Demetri refilled their glasses. "Maybe we can find an old rundown shack and when your mother kicks the bucket, we can stick her and Morgana's portraits together, so they can compare notes for all of eternity on how horrible we are."

"Only flaw in that theory is Mother's not getting a portrait."

"Lucky for you. If only the one destroyed at Hogwarts was the only one of Morgana's. She just had to have another one." Demetri sighed dramatically before sipping her drink. Deep down, in the very deepest part of her, she was glad that Morgana had the foresight to have another one made.

"What happened to the one in your rooms anyway?"

"There was a Fate's Warning rune dead center of the floor in the Astronomy tower where my rooms were. When it blew," she shrugged. "well, according to the Headmistress, everything was destroyed."

"Is your cat all right?"

"Yes. The little shit was found in Filch's rooms, fraternizing with Mrs. Norris. Thank the Gods he's neutered. The last thing that school needs is her hell spawn roaming about."

"I'm glad he's okay. Is he here then or . . .?" She shook her head, trying to clear her mind so she could think clearer. "This entire time I didn't even notice. I—it's like I'm in a daze, you know?"

"He's roaming the manor somewhere." Demetri sighed. "I wouldn't expect you to be worried about a trivial thing as my cat with what has been going on with you. It's fine."

"It's not trivial, Dem." She then smiled as she thought of something. "Hopefully, Merlin plays nicely with Harrison. Or else we're going to hear about it."

"He will. Anyone who gives that little furball attention that isn't me is his best friend. Harrison could throttle the cat, and Merlin would purr to his heart's content at the attention."

"It could be good for him. For both of them. We all need to keep our mind off things right now. And just, you know, be here."

"True. I've caught our resident hard-ass with Merlin curled in his lap, petting him as he read back at Hogwarts."

"He's not a hard ass, Dem. He just hasn't had a very easy life unfortunately."

"I know, Sin. He just wants us all to think he's Mister Bastard of the Dungeons."

"Exactly. He thinks he has to maintain this persona when he doesn't have to."

"Unfortunately, old habits die hard."

She shook her head. "Yeah, well, either way, though, I can't say anything about it." She gave a thin smile. "One step forward and then two steps back he takes. I've waited this long, you know?"

"I know. Don't let him get away from you. You both need each other, and I swear to the Old Gods that if either of you screw this up, Morgana's reign of terror will look like child's play when I'm done with you two." Demetri smiled sweetly.

Aurora laughed. "It's not that. He just—you know how he is."

"I think your hardheadedness and his will eventually cancel each other out." She shrugged. "I've definitely seen a change in his demeanor from when I first met him. He still has his moments, but if you give back what he dishes out and don't let him walk away mad, he eventually can hold a decent conversation. As long as he's not trying to run away from his feelings again."

"Yeah. I'm not getting that from him. I'm getting more of the he doesn't know what he wants."

"Give him time. He's got so much more than we do going on that would likely have caused another person to go insane. Be there for him, let him talk, rant, throw a hissy fit, but remind him he is not alone and that we are all here to help whether he likes it or not."

"When did you become a therapist, Dem?"

She snorted. "The moment I met your other half."

"He's not that bad."

"Once you get him to realize you get more out of talking to someone instead of _at_ someone."

"Like I said, I don't really have that problem with him."

"Count yourself lucky, then"

"Yeah. No. I get a whole different thing, Dem. I get it where he snogs the hell out of me and then pushes me away like I'm some sort of sea creature. And then he claims he's doing it to protect me or some other ridiculous reason." She then threw back her glass before she wiped her mouth and continued. "Oh and the ranting! Can't forget that. Like it's _my_ fault. _He's_ the one who came back in time!"

"Then you take the initiative, Sin. He may be pulling away to keep from scaring you off. The ranting I've dealt with just by letting him rant, then when the wind has left his sails, get him to talk. I highly doubt he blames you for any of this."

"He blames me for being a distraction because he says I'm the reason he can't think. Well, if he wasn't having sex dreams about me, he wouldn't have that problem. And trust me. I try to get him to talk. He just distracts and moves on. Or we get his dead great-great grandfather to show up in a portrait."

"See? This is why I suggested locking yourselves in a room and dealing with those frustrations, but neither of you will listen." Demetri then cocked her head. "Wait. You spoke to one of the Ashmores?"

"Yeah. Lord Marcus Ashmore. The nice one who lied about his family to cover up the fact that his son was a certified git. Actually, git isn't strong enough of a word. Bastard, abuser, coward, just plain old scumbag."

"That seems to be a recurring theme amongst Purebloods."

"Yep. I don't know, though. I suppose I can see his point. Why should his son destroy everything he and his family built?"

Demetri shrugged. "Most do so out of a claim for power or sheer jealousy."

"Yeah. Least we learned the real Lord Ashmore story. It's strange, though. Meeting him, I mean." She shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck and closing her eyes. The moment she inhaled, she felt lightheaded, so she reopened her eyes. She'd have to be a little bit more careful or she'd get drunk.

"Maybe it's because everything we know about the Ashmore family was a lie?" Demetri offered, nursing her third glass of Absinthe.

"Maybe."

"It does, however, raise the question of what else this family lied about, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"The one constant theme I've seen with this entire situation is how the truth is covered up or distorted in some form."

"Again, a Pureblood thing."

Demetri snorted. "True.

"Though, I think his mother hates me."

"Oh, she does." Demetri winced at her tone. "But I can see why. All she knows about you is Severus was nearly insane because of the memories his older self gave him, so she blamed you for being the one that was hurting her son."

"But I didn't."

"We know that, but try convincing an overprotective mother that."

"She calls me his harlot."

"So?"

"Does she seriously think I'm going to, I don't know, seduce her son and turn him evil?"

"Don't all mother's think that?"

"Do they? None of my other—well, actually, Severus and I aren't dating, yet, but none of the others I was with had mothers who thought that. Course that could have been Mother's doing."

Demetri shrugged. "Mine died while giving birth to me, and my father's been trying to marry me off since I was eleven, so I wouldn't know either. Maybe Eileen is a special case? She met me all of two seconds and already had me married to Severus and all our children's names picked out after all."

"Oh?" Aurora crossed her arms playfully. "No wonder she doesn't like me. She thinks I'm trying to brush aside her first choice of you as her perfect daughter-in-law."

Demetri laughed. "She does not."

"No. It makes absolute sense, Dem. Why mess with perfection after all?"

"From what I heard, she's been ranting about you before she even met me."

"Really? Why?"

"Like I said, Severus was obsessed with finding you after his future self visited."

"He was?"

"Yes. He nearly ripped my head off when he caught us talking through the Floo, demanding I get you back when you just upped and vanished."

"He was there? You didn't tell me that. If I knew that, I'd have—"

"You didn't ask or give me time to tell you. You were there and gone so quickly. Plus, I thought he was still unconscious, so there was no reason to."

"Even unconscious—you know, he is rather sweet when he's asleep." Aurora paused, frowning slightly. That was random. Why had she just said that?

"About the only time."

Aurora rolled her eyes. "You don't know what you're missing. I'll let you know, though."

Demetri smiled wickedly. "Oh please do. Lord knows I'm not getting any, so I'll settle to live vicariously through you."

Laughing, Aurora nodded. "If we ever get there."

"You really need to take my advice and just lock yourselves in a room together. I'm telling you."

"He'd just read, I think."

"Even if you forgot your clothes beforehand?" Demetri offered, pouring herself another glass.

"Probably even then."

"No way to know for sure unless you try," Demetri said with a shrug. "I can give you the address of a naughty little store that sells all sorts of skimpy lingerie if you prefer not to be naked at first." When she caught Aurora's look, she frowned. What? What did she say?

"Um, Dem . . ."

"Hmm?"

"You put a lot of thought into this, didn't you?"

"Only because I love you, Sin." She grinned.

"I don't think it's my appearance that's tripping him up, but rather . . . something else."

"What do you mean?"

"No. It's not for me to say. Really." Aurora then sighed softly, swirling the liquid in her fourth glass of Absinthe. Why was she talking to Demetri about this? Severus was a private person. He'd never forgive her for talking about him like she was. She knew that. So, why was she then?

"Sin," Demetri said softly, her blue eyes narrowing on her.

Aurora winced before she glanced at her. "It's just, well, I have more experience in it, I think."

"Well, he has a son, so obviously he's not a virgin." Demetri shrugged. "And I doubt that's it. He damn near told me he wants to do more than kiss you."

"And yet when we're in a library, and I mean sure I was a little annoyed with him at first but, and then before that even . . . nothing. I mean, nothing, Dem."

"Then you take the lead if you see him start to pull away."

"And then he's going to get scared because I'll come on too strong for him."

Demetri sighed and rested her forehead on the table. "I swear you two are doing this on purpose to see how long it takes for me to say fuck it and Imperio you both," she mumbled into the table.

Aurora giggled before she poured herself another glass. "Maybe?"

Lifting her head up just a bit, she glanced at her. "Don't tempt me, Sin."

"However, before we can think about that sorts of things, we need to figure this out first."

Demetri fully lifted her head from the table. "Fine."

"Well, I wasn't saying right now. I just mean we need to deal with one crisis at a time. Then shagging can commence."

"I'll hold you to that."

"You expect me to send a howler screaming, 'We did it?"

"And balloons and confetti, yeah," Demetri replied with a shrug.

"You're mad."

She grinned. "I know."

"It's not going to happen."

"Not if you keep up with that attitude it won't."

"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with my attitude."

"You honestly believe that? If you go around doubting what everyone can see is between you two, then one of you is bound to screw it up."

Aurora tossed back her fourth glass, her face scrunching up again as she drank the bright green liquid. It was losing its bitterness finally with that same faint hint of black licorice just floating around. She knew deep down that drinking wasn't going to solve anything, but it was better than thinking right then. So, she poured herself a fifth, her head already swimming as the room swayed.

"Screw what up?" she asked with a frown, glancing at the several blue-eyed witches sitting across from her. When did Demetri clone herself? She just barely kept from laughing.

"Being happy for once? Being with a man I know you've been in love with for years?"

"Why do you think I'll screw up?" It didn't make sense what Demetri was saying, any of the Demetris actually.

"Either one of you will, Sin, with both of you constantly walking around on eggshells because you don't know how the other feels because you are both too damned stubborn to admit there are feelings to begin with!"

Why were they shouting now? She wasn't deaf. Maybe a little dizzy and slightly drunk, but not deaf. Or maybe Demetri was now? She snorted, trying to brush back her curls.

"But we've admitted our feelings, Dem."

"And yet there is still doubt there."

"There's no doubt. Just hurdles. Big, dark hurdles."

The biggest, darkest hurdle was the one she was in love with, Demetri thought as she grabbed the bottle from the table. "So, jump the hurdle, Sin."

Aurora's eyes narrowed on the three Demetris before she nodded with conviction. "You're right." She slammed her glass down on the tabletop, a few drops of Absinthe spilling. "I should jump him." She then stood up, grabbing the side of the table when the room spun again.

Demetri snorted before she too stood and rounded the table to put her arm around the dark-haired witch. "How about we focus on getting you up the stairs without breaking your neck first?"

"I'm fine, Dem," she replied, her voice slurring horribly now. She reached up to pat Demetri's cheek, frowning when her hand didn't feel anything. "Quit moving. Will you?"

"Yeah, and I'm the Queen of England. " She grabbed the other witch's hand before Aurora could poke out an eye and led the way upstairs.

Aurora stumbled beside her, wondering why Demetri was stumbling so much. She hadn't had as many glasses as Aurora had. Clearly, it was obvious who the lightweight witch was. She grinned, laughing as they continued towards the stairs.

Demetri tightened her grip on her drunken friend, trying not to trip as Aurora swayed. She sighed when they finally came to the stairs and gripped the banister with her other hand as Aurora swayed heavily. This was why they didn't usually drink. Aurora never could handle her alcohol. But, damn, she was always fun drunk, though.

"This was fun. We should do this again. Maybe after, you know . . ." She leaned in to Demetri's ear. "I _hurdle_ Severus."

"We should," Demetri agreed, wincing as Aurora 's voice was a bit loud in her ear. It was nice to enjoy themselves and forget all their troubles for once. It reminded her of the old days when she wasn't babysitting grown men whose favorite color was black and favorite hobby was driving her insane. Not that Severus was really that bad.

"Mister tall—he's so tall, Dem. So tall and dark—but a good dark. Not a bad one." She held up a finger. "And his fingers, Dem. Oh, his fingers. I—and his eyes. I love him. You know that? I really do. Even though, he's a bit of a, um, something. I don't know. That one word." She couldn't think of it. The word was just on the tip of her tongue. Her smile widened as she recalled her kiss with him earlier then.

"Ass? No, git I believe was the word you use for him," Demetri laughed.

"His arse is pretty nice, isn't it?"

"It is."

Aurora giggled. "You know what we should do?"

Demetri sighed, knowing she'd regret it later but she couldn't not want to know what her friend's alcohol-addled mind came up with. "What should we do, Sin, other than pay attention to where we're going?" she muttered as they nearly tripped again.

Aurora leaned in even further, her lips nearly brushing against Demetri's ear. "We should sneak into his room, Dem. Make him think it's a dream or something. Just to mess with him." She threw her head back and laughed loudly, likely waking up the entire manor. "He'd shit himself!"

"Aurora!" Demetri nearly stumbled on the top step as the witch jostled them. "First of all, lower your voice. People are sleeping. And second, I am not going to have a threesome with you and Severus!"

Aurora kept laughing, though. "No. We wouldn't actually do it. Just make him think. You're the one after all saying we should just be locked in a room and shag. So, it's your fault."

"Yes, the TWO of you, no one else." Demetri shook her head, wondering why she was trying to reason with the very drunk witch.

Aurora rolled her eyes before she narrowed her eyes on the closed doors they were passing.

"Why do you look like the doors just insulted your pride?"

"What?" Aurora turned to her. "Trying to figure out where you're going, Dem."

"To your room"

"Uh . . . all right. Carry on."

"Yes, Master." Demetri laughed as she went to open the door to Aurora's rooms. Her eyes briefly narrowed in confusion as she found it locked, but brushed it aside a moment later. With a muttered spell, the lock clicked and the door opened.

Aurora pulled away from her as soon as the door was open. "All right, Dem. I made it. No broken necks here." She smiled languidly at her before she patted one of Demetri's six arms. "Thank you. And I know, I know. Straight to bed. I know, Mum. You can go now."

"Yeah, and I know you too well. I'll wait until you're in bed before I leave."

Aurora sighed heavily. "Fine." She slowly walked across the dark room, muttering soft curses as she tripped every now and then while she stripped down before she finally reached the bed. She stuck her tongue out at Demetri and then kicked off her shoes prior to sliding into the warm bed.

Her eyes briefly narrowed when her bare feet connected with a solid mass. She, however, dismissed it. It was probably just the alcohol playing tricks on her mind. She snuggled up closer, wondering how far her mind would let her get. She wrapped her arms around the person lying beside her, smiling when she felt him move slightly. He smelled like wood, but she couldn't quite place which kind. It was definitely a pleasant smell, though.

"Uh." Demetri narrowed her eyes as she stared at her friend. Maybe it was the darkness playing tricks on her but was there another bump in her bed? Or was she seeing double now? She blinked a few more times and squinted even more through the darkness. It was then she realized Sinistra wasn't alone in bed. "Shit!"

Just when she thought that it couldn't get any worse, the door off to the right then opened, revealing a dark silhouette of a woman in the bathroom's doorway. Demetri's face fell against her hand as she covered her eyes and bit back a groan. Oh, crap.

"Unhand my husband this instant!" a voice dangerously growled from the shadows of the doorway on the right.

"Husband?" Aurora slurred, blinking. "Severus isn't married."

"Fuck!" Demetri's wand was in her hand as she slowly moved away from the door. "Aurora, you're, um, you're in the wrong room." She left out the 'and in the wrong bed.'

Aurora turned towards her friend. "What?"

"I ain't Severus, lass," an amused male voice spoke from beside her. "That's what she's saying."

Her brown eyes narrowed on the man. She knew that voice. She had heard it before somewhere. If he wasn't Severus, though, then who was he? And why was he in her bed? And why did he smell like wood like Severus did?

"Easy. It's all right," the shadowed man murmured, brushing aside the growls from his wife. "I'm Tobias, remember? 'Bout the only thing me and my boy have in common is our nose, right?"

"Tobias?" Aurora's eyes widened and the color drained from her face before she started taking gasping breaths. "Then . . . Oh . . . oh no . . . oh . . . oh no!"

"Oh no, indeed," Eileen growled from the doorway before she glanced towards Demetri.

"I am so, so sorry. I miscounted the doors," Demetri apologized profusely as she went to retrieve her drunken friend from their bed. She had been so sure that it had been the fourth one from the right.

Eileen glared, though, pointing at Aurora.

Demetri helped her from the bed, trying not to let out nervous laughter at their situation. Later when they were in Aurora's actual rooms, she'd let out her laughs, but right now she needed to get them out of there before Eileen killed them.

Aurora silently followed, still taking gasping breaths. She felt sick. Absolutely horrified at what had happened. When they reached the door, she saw the familiar tall, dark brooding man who was looming overhead staring at both of them with messy raven hair. He must have been sleeping, she realized. He looked adorable.

Her stomach lurched violently.

"I'm going to be—" She couldn't get the words out in time before she doubled over and vomited.

"Lovely, Aurora," Demetri grumbled before she cleaned the mess with a wave of her wand. Her steel-blue eyes then glanced up at Severus, her lips twitching. Maybe he could find the humor in this? Somehow? "I forgot how much of a lightweight she was."

Severus's dark eyes darted from Aurora to Demetri with a blink of surprise before he shook his head. He then looked behind them, likely to his parents. Swallowing back his words, he held a hand out, silently summoning the clothes Aurora had thrown about the room haphazardly earlier. He gently placed her outer robes around her shoulders to cover her, closing his eyes.

"I take it you'll make sure she is in the right room this time," he asked quietly, his eyes darting back to Demetri with a slight frown. His hand didn't move from Aurora's shoulder.

"Not my fault there are hundreds of doors that all look the same in this house," Demetri replied with a slight grumble.

He said nothing to her at first. Instead he continued his stare before he hesitantly turned away. "Thank you."

Demetri opened her mouth to respond, but he was already slipping through his bedroom door. She sighed heavily, wrapping an arm around Aurora. She then silently led her from the room, hearing the door slam shut behind them followed by loud chuckles and Eileen's voice.

Finding the correct room a few moments later and checking it to make sure it was by non-verbally lighting the candles in the room first, she ushered her drunken friend inside. Once the door was closed, Demetri couldn't help but finally laugh at the events that just transpired. Of all the things . . .

"It's bad. Isn't it?" Aurora said as she was helped into her bed. She then grabbed Demetri's arm, her reddened eyes searching Demetri's blue. "Just kill me. Please, Dem? Let me die with some dignity left. Even if it's just, you know, a sliver."

"Oh, no," Demetri drawled, removing the witch's slender fingers from her arm. "You, Sin, get to face the consequences of trying to bury your feelings in the bottom of a bottle of Absinthe just like the rest of us." She smiled softly when she caught Aurora's pained look. "Think of it this way. At least you'll have a good story to tell your kids someday." She sniggered when Aurora tossed a pillow at her. "Now, go to sleep. Maybe you'll be lucky, and this will all be a dream."

"Really?"

Demetri only smiled at her, though, folding Aurora's outer robes neatly. She waited for a few moments for Aurora's eyes to close. After four glasses of Absinthe and complete, utter humiliation, Aurora Sinistra finally passed out five minutes later. Demetri waited a few more moments later just to make sure Aurora wasn't faking it before she quietly slipped out of her friend's room.

Closing the door quietly behind her, she paused when she noticed movement off to her left. She watched the tall, dark figure approach, considering drawing her wand for a second before deciding against it when she saw it was just Severus.

"I take it she's unconscious now?" he asked quietly, motioning to the closed door. His hair was less messy, looking like he just had woken up, than before. But he was still wearing his navy sweatpants and oversized white t-shirt.

"Yeah. She did better this time than the last time she had Absinthe," Demetri said with a shrug. "Last time she was flirting with one of our professors, and it wasn't pretty." She smiled when she heard his snort. With a jerk of her hand, she motioned to the potion he was holding. "For her hangover tomorrow I take it?"

He inclined his head, seemingly uncomfortable under her gaze right then.

"That's nice." She then glanced at the door and then back to him. "You could probably go in there and leave it for her without waking her." Her eyes narrowed briefly when he flinched. "Severus?"

"I, I'm not sure that's acceptable."

"Why? Are you planning on sleeping with her in her drunken state?"

"Of course not," he snapped, glaring at Demetri.

"Then why wouldn't it be? You're just setting it on the nightstand and leaving. It's what friends do for one another, Severus." Demetri then shrugged. "Just make sure you ward her room afterwards, so she doesn't go exploring later. Last thing we need is your mother to kill her." She turned from him and headed for her own room with a faint smile on her face.

She was five rooms down from Aurora's, so as she turned to slip inside her own room, she glanced down and saw Severus still standing outside Aurora's room, staring at the closed door. He didn't trust himself to be left alone with her. That spoke to his character. Demetri waited a second to see if he'd actually enter or if he'd run. When his shoulders slumped in resignation and he slipped inside, her smile widened before she walked into her own rooms, rolling her eyes when she saw Merlin perched on top of her pillow glaring at her.

"Oh, don't even give me that look, you little shit. I fed you earlier." She then waved her hand towards him, levitating him to his own side of the bed. When she heard his huff of indignation, she laughed and waved her hand down her body, dressing for bed.


	11. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right. No amount of apologies are going to make up for how absent I've been lately with this fic, but I'm truly sorry. If you've been with me from the start, then you know I will never abandon a fic once I post it. It may just take a really long time for me to update. :) Re-reading this fic, I decided I need to refocus this story a bit as I sort of got off an a tangent there. Expect some changes to occur soon to get us back on track. As always, enjoy. :)

Navigating the maze that was Aurora's room was becoming a nightmare. He thought he had fairly good night vision, but bumping into yet another stupid object proved this was false. He mumbled yet another curse under his breath and trudged forward to where he hoped her nightstand was. A part of him considered drawing his wand and casting a weak _Lumos_ just to ensure he didn't bump into anything else, but he didn't want to risk waking her. And judging by her loud snores, if they could even be considered snores, she needed her rest.

When he finally reached the nightstand beside her a few moments later, he let out a silent sigh of relief. He gently placed the pear-shaped bottle of florescent yellow liquid next to her wand and slowly turned away. As he took a step forward, he paused briefly when he noticed Aurora had suddenly become silent. He turned his head sharply to her, his eyes trying to cut through the darkness to see her. Had she stopped breathing? He drew his wand and quickly cast a weak _Lumos_. When the low, gentle light emanating from the tip of his wand revealed her staring up at him in drunken confusion, though, he winced inwardly. He had woken her.

"Severus?"

"Yes?" he replied quietly, trying to ignore the urge to flee invading his every being.

"Am I dreaming?"

It'd be so easy to reply that yes, she was dreaming. So freaking easy. But it was also cowardly, he knew, and he was anything but cowardly. In fact, looking back on his life so far, he had always chosen the harder path for himself, it seemed. Why would he start taking the easier path now?

"No, Aurora. You're not." He exhaled loudly and met her eyes. "You should take that potion now, so when you awake later you're not feeling so ill." He glanced down at his feet when she turned to look at the bottle of Hangover potion he had brewed for his own stores long ago.

"Is it going to taste like crap?" she asked, holding the filled bottle in her hands.

He snorted, shaking his head. Had it been anyone else saying that, he may have bristled at the insinuation, but it was her, his ultimate conundrum.

"Of course it will." He crossed his arms, staring down at her. "After all, what better way is there to teach you a lesson in the consequences of partaking in certain frivolities as drinking a bottle of Absinthe than to brew you the nastiest potion of all?"

"Git!" she scoffed before she tossed one of her pillows at him. "As if I haven't learned it with your mother finding me in bed with your dad."

"That may be," he drawled, holding the pillow she had tossed at him and glancing down at it, "but I would like to ensure that for myself as well. After all, if we are to engage in a relationship, as you so desperately desire—"

"As _I_ so desperately desire?" she squawked, interrupting him and nearly flying up from the bed in obvious outrage as the bottle clunk down beside her on the nightstand. "Excuse me?! I'm not the one sneaking into your room at night!"

He raised a brow at her.

"Don't give me that! I'm not!"

"Maybe after, you know, I hurdle Severus," he replied smoothly, repeating her earlier words that she had spoken to Demetri outside his rooms. He watched the color drain from her face and waited patiently for her reaction. He was anticipating either anger or shock. "That was your voice I heard earlier, was it not, Aurora?" He all but purred her name.

She looked like she was the one about to flee the room now. However, she held her ground for a moment before a strange look overtook her face. She then laughed silently at something she must have thought before she drew herself up and stared deep into his eyes with a grin.

"You've got me there, but there's just one thing you're missing, my dear, sweet Severus."

His eyes narrowed on her. The way she had said his name was downright chilling and cold. He drew in a steady, even breath, though. "Oh? And what's that, Aurora?" he replied, returning her grin.

"Unlike you, I'm not afraid to throw myself out there for you. In fact, if we're honest, I've made it so obvious over the years how truly and madly in love I was with you. Yet you were too enamored with Evans to see it over this obnoxiously large nose of yours," she stated, tapping his nose with her finger. He blinked in response. "And even now, when you've decided that you'll maybe consider a romantic relationship with me, even now, you hesitate. You find yourself struck dumb by me. And for what?" she asked, taking a step closer to him. "Fear of rejection?" Another step closer with their chests now touching. "Fear of loss?" She lifted her head up just a bit, and he could feel her breath against his face now. "Fear of finding out that you're not the incredible prick you make yourself out to be but actually a human being?" she whispered with her lips mere inches from his. "Oh, my, how horrible that must be!" she mocked.

"Are you intentionally trying to get a rise out of me, witch?" He was holding himself back by just a thread. He could feel her lips brush against his briefly as they both stared one another down, and his head was swarming with thoughts. He could smell the Absinthe on her breath. See the dilation in her pupils and their angry redness. Hear her unsteady breaths. Feel her trembles against him.

"Of course not," she said with a scoff, pulling back and turning away from him. "Because you wouldn't know what to do with me even if you did have me, Severus," she stated with a soft laugh.

He grabbed her arm gently to stop her and frowned when she looked at him and rolled her eyes. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, Severus, that when love is in involved, you haven't a clue. That if it was a class taught at Hogwarts, you'd have failed it spectacularly. In fact, I think you'd likely be even below a Troll-level for a grade."

"Well, forgive me for not wanting to take advantage of a woman when she's inebriated," he snidely replied, frowning at her.

"I'm not drunk!"

"Says the woman who drank a bottle of Absinthe by herself," he drawled.

She pulled her hand back from him and grabbed the bottle he had brought in from her nightstand. "Once again, my adorable git, you prove that you can't see me over your obnoxiously large—"

"When did you drink it?" he interrupted, noticing that the bottle was now empty. She had been sober this entire time?

"When you were busy fondling the pillow, love," she replied with a shrug and sarcasm.

He stared at her, unable to speak or move. Then all of this was . . .

"See? You wouldn't know what to do with me if you had me."

His mind raced with various thoughts. Was she wanting him to make a move? But she had just drunken herself into almost oblivion earlier. While the potion would get rid of her hangover and metabolize the alcohol in her system quicker, she wasn't likely fully sober. She wouldn't be until likely tomorrow night. But she seemed to be clear minded currently, knowing what she wanted. Which was what exactly, he wondered.

"Are you . . . propositioning me for sex?"

"Honestly!" she cried throwing her hands up before she whirled around and went back to bed.

"You are!"

"You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. Was I flirting with you? Yes. Was it so we'd end up shagging? No. Call me old-fashioned, but I would appreciate a date first before we make that jump."

"Then why were you flirting with me?"

"I don't know. I felt like it." She then huffed, drawing the covers up. "Must you always dissect everything? Can't you just do something because you feel like it just once in your life without thinking?" She rolled her eyes. "Course you can't. Forgot whom I'm talking to here."

"You're acting like a sullen brat. Perhaps if you were clear about what you were hoping to achieve, I could—"

"Do nothing. Like always. Because you have to sit there and think about the possible ramifications of any little action on your part."

He frowned, crossing his arms and looking down at her on the bed. Why was she acting like such a brat now? If she didn't want sex, then what was it? What was he missing? The longer it took for him to speak, the more frustrated she was becoming it seemed. He glanced towards the door before he sighed. He wasn't going to leave her angry. He wanted to figure this out. Even if it killed him.

"You care deeply for me. I see that, Aurora. I truly do. However, as you yourself stated, I, I know nothing about love, about what I'm expected to do, what you want from—"

"I don't want anything. Circe!"

"Judging by your tone, you do, though. And I'm too dense to see it. So perhaps—"

"Don't you fucking dare, Severus Snape!" she snarled, pointing at him. "Don't you dare finish that stupid, ridiculous sentence!"

"I don't understand! Clearly I don't! And if you won't tell me, then I'm . . . I don't want our relationship to turn into a bickering hatred where we wish the other jumped off a cliff or something." He paused when he noticed her demeanor change. "I don't know what we are to one another right now. I admit that I do care for you. More than I did before when we were students. I admitted that earlier." He could see her relax more and filed that away for future knowledge, trudging forward. "But we're not official boyfriend and girlfriend, though. And perhaps I'm mistaken, but it's my understanding that friends, if that's what we are to one another, don't snog each other senseless, so your flirting with me earlier couldn't have been to get that action either." He saw her eyes dart to the side guiltily. So that was what she had been wanting from him. "However, I admit that hearing your words, feeling your lips brush against mine, it took everything in me not to kiss you again. To hold you in my arms. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, though."

"Uncomfortable? Why would that make me uncomfortable?"

"Because we haven't officially defined what our relationship is."

"What's to define, Severus? I love you, and you're confused." She sighed and allowed her head to fall back against her pillows. "Just go. Let me wallow in my misery please."

He considered doing as she requested, but found that his legs didn't want to cooperate. In fact, his mouth seemed to work instead.

"You're badly mistaken. I'm not confused as to my feelings for you. I've been clear from the beginning since we reconnected that I care for you. I also don't want to lose you as a friend. And in response to your frustration with me for not moving fast enough, keep in mind I'm playing catch, will you? I'm not the expert you are in romance. But I am trying, Aurora." He then turned and left.

* * *

A few days later, Severus frowned as he noticed Demetri give a slight nod to his father before she left the kitchen. He couldn't be certain, but he was fairly confident the two were up to something. When Tobias caught his eyes and forced a smile, the young man felt his stomach drop. That was never a good sign.

"Bout time ya got up. Want one? Just made it," Tobias said, holding out a cup of steaming tea.

"No thank you." Severus brushed past and reached for the latest edition of the _Daily Prophet_ from the table. He sighed inwardly when he saw that the paper was still going on about the Ashmores' newly discovered descendants. Didn't the _Prophet_ have anything else to talk about than that? He was sick of seeing his photo plastered everywhere.

"Think they got my good side this time. What do ya think, son?" Tobias joked, setting the cup down in front of Severus as he sat down at the table.

"You say that every day, Dad," Severus replied, pushing the cup of tea to the side.

"Sev, come on, son. Ya need to drink." Tobias then sighed heavily. "Just humor me, will ya?"

Frowning, Severus grabbed the cup and brought it to his lips. However, the moment he inhaled the steam, he paused and then set the cup down, his eyes darting to his father.

"Since when are you in the habit of drugging me now, Dad?" When he caught Tobias's wince, he pushed the cup far from him and glared.

"It's not—"

"What? It's not laced with an aphrodisiac? Because I smell at least four different ones in that tea, Dad." He crossed his arms and frowned. "I take it this plan of drugging was yours and Demetri's to get me to be with Aurora?"

"Well, yer mum helped too."

Severus's brow rose. His mother helped?

"Don't look so shocked. Ya two have more sexual tension between ya than a pair of drunken Nifflers, son."

Since when did his dad know about Nifflers?

"What? Did I get that wrong?" Tobias asked before he shrugged. "That's what El said at least."

"So then, what, all of you have been discussing this and plotting on how to get us together?"

"Not plottin'. I mean, it ain't like we're all gathered at a table in an evil lair or nothin'. Just, ya know, ya got to admit that she is good with Harrison. And she ain't afraid of ya either. All good things."

"I see."

"Ya ain't got to be like that, son. We're just lookin' out for ya. And, well, shit, she does have a good heart. Not to mention when ya two are 'round another, well, ya bring out the good in both ya."

"Perhaps you haven't noticed, but it's not like she wants to be around me lately."

"Shit, son, that's just cause yer avoidin' her. Not the other way around. Now, how about ya go to the library and see if maybe she'll go on a walk with ya around the grounds? Ya two can talk."

A walk around the grounds? That was his father's brilliant plan today? Severus glanced out a nearby window and frowned. While they hadn't been attacked so far since coming to the manor, it didn't mean that the threat was past them by any means.

"Come on. Ya know I'm right, son."

Hardly. In fact, what he did know was that they were getting desperate now if they were resorting to drugging. But he had to admit that he was missing her.

"Well?" Tobias prodded, giving him a knowing look.

Severus rose from the table, though, and left the room without another word. It wasn't for them that he was going to find and talk to her. It was for himself. He had been avoiding her long enough. And staying away wasn't giving him the answers he was needing.

He headed to the library where he knew she was. It had become her sanctuary these past few days he knew. As he turned a corner, he paused as he heard his mother's voice inside the library.

"We all have difficulties in life. Wallowing in self-pity isn't going to help that. And burying your head in books? Do you truly believe that will help you in your goal?"

"Why does everyone think I have a goal?" Aurora exclaimed with a huff of air. "I'm trying to figure this out."

"Let me help you, dear," his mother replied in feigned sweetness. "You like Severus. He has never been in love, so he hasn't a clue what to do. To get him, you have to be near him and pretty much lead and guide him, Aurora. And you can't do that from sticking your nose in books. So, go out there and find him. Because if we have to hear the both of you moping around one more day, we're going to lock the both of you in a room and not let you out until you talk to one another. Do you understand me?"

"We're not moping!"

Severus nodded silently outside the room. They weren't.

"And for the record, Eileen, my sticking my nose in books is not to avoid him. It's to figure out this whole scenario of what the hell is going on."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, dear," Eileen replied clearly not believing her. "However, a duck is still a duck."

Severus then heard something slam down and heard footfalls heading in his direction. He took a step back and winced when he saw the door angrily fly open. When Aurora was revealed, he gave her a faint, apologetic smile. She, however, didn't seem to want it. In fact, she grabbed his arm and pulled him behind her, which he obediently followed.

"Your mother is driving me mad," she stated a few moments later when they were out of Eileen's earshot.

"She has a habit of doing that unfortunately," he replied quietly as they wandered the halls of Ashmore manor. "Did you learn anything today?"

"Not really. They seem to be your typical Pureblood family based on their book choices. There's a few Dark books, but I don't know. Nothing dealing with necromancy, dark rituals, or the like."

He nodded slowly. He had a feeling of that.

"There were some interesting books on sex magic, though, but more to deal with conception and rebirth than anything."

"Oh?" He fell in step with her, noticing that her earlier annoyance had disappeared.

"Yeah. One book claimed that there was a foolproof position to ensure pregnancy. And surprisingly it wasn't missionary."

He snorted and shook his head. "I'll keep that in mind."

"So, were you getting the whole 'You need to talk to one another speech' like I just got?"

"Yes." He decided to keep the whole drugging to himself for now.

"We're not avoiding one another. We're just focused on our mission." She then stopped and turned to him. "Right?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Severus?" She gently rested her hand against his arm.

He motioned towards the front door. "Let's go for a walk."

"All right." She followed him outside, clearly confused by his behavior.

They walked around the manor's right side and headed towards the dead garden. In its hey-day, the garden was probably full of colors and life, vibrant and exquisite. Now, it was filled with dead leaves, wilted plants, and naked trees.

When he noticed her veer off to the left, he paused and watched her head towards the lone tall, green, wilted plant in a sea of brown. He followed her a moment later.

"Wolf's bane, isn't it?" she asked when he joined her.

"It is." He watched her glance around.

"It's filled with old potions ingredients." She pointed to their left. "Mandrakes." Then over to their right and up. "And that's asphodel. And over there is dittany."

He nodded. "They must have grown their own ingredients."

"Why haven't we found their stores then? If they had this large of a garden, wouldn't they have stored the harvested ingredients somewhere to brew with? We found no labs, though."

He frowned and thought on it. She was right. They had fully explored the manor and hadn't found any potions labs or storerooms filled with collected ingredients. So where did all their potions' ingredients go?

"It's strange, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed before he sighed. "Perhaps they moved it all offsite after the attack."

"But why?"

He shrugged, turning away to look back at her. However, as he did, he caught movement off in the distance. He quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back protectively.

"Severus?"

"You have your wand with you, right?" he asked, brushing off her confusion.

"Of course. Why? What's going on?"

"There's someone near the tree line watching us," he stated softly, turning his wrist to cause his wand to slide from its holster into his hand. "On two?" He knew he didn't need to explain to her his plan as he saw her wand slip into her hand as well.

A second later, they both Disapparated from the lifeless gardens.

When they reappeared, it was a hundred feet away from before. They both pointed their wands at the hooded figure in front of them that had been watching them earlier.

"Who are you?" Severus demanded, trying to catch a glimpse of the person's face. Judging by the person's figure, it seemed to be a woman underneath the heavy dark robes. However, the person was covered from head to toe and hidden under dark garbs.

"Aurora Sinistra, daughter of Orin and Syra Ophelia," a cold voice finally spoke from beneath the hood. "Tell me, girl. How's your mother these days? Still a blood-sucking bitch like always?"

"He asked you a question," Aurora replied, not taking the woman's bait.

"As did I, girl." An icy laugh then echoed before the hood turned to Severus. "Do you know her family, Severus? Has she told you about them at all? About what they are? The abominations they are?"

"Who are you?" Severus repeated.

"The question you should ask yourself, my dear boy, is what the hell is she?" the woman stated before she waved her left hand dismissively towards Aurora.

Severus whirled back to protect her, only to realize Aurora didn't need it. The woman's spell hit her in the chest, but it didn't seem to affect Aurora in the slightest. In fact, she instead only sighed heavily and shook her head.

"If you've finished playing games . . ." Aurora stated just as coldly as the woman had spoken.

"Fascinating."

"Who are you?" Severus repeated once more.

The woman then reached up and pushed back her hood, revealing a witch with deep grey eyes and salt-and-pepper curls in her late 70s.

"Diana Selwyn. My niece was Emma Selwyn, your great-grandmother."

"I see." He glanced to Aurora, noticing she was looking back at him. "Why have you been watching me?" he asked turning back to Diana.

"Because you are one of the last connections I have to my niece, Severus."

"Then you're the reason people have been trying to attack me, to set me on this dark path for some reason."

"For some reason?" Diana laughed coldly. "Oh, my dear boy, it's for the grandest of all reasons." She took a step towards him, stopping when Aurora's wand dug deep into her throat. "That worthless Gaunt descendent tried to recruit you in the womb because he knew, oh my boy, he knew of the blood in your veins, the power in your core."

"So, it's power then, lovely," Aurora remarked with a bored sigh.

Diana, too, seemed bored with their conversation then. She whirled around a second later, slamming Aurora back against a tree.

"There. Now, the magical folk can talk in peace without the riffraff joining in," Diana exclaimed, brushing her robes off before she turned to Severus. When he went to move to check on Aurora, Diana pulled him back magically. "Ignore her. She's fine. Just unconscious."

Severus's eyes flashed angrily before he slashed his wand at Diana. However, his spell was easily waved away.

"You truly care for her, don't you?" Diana scoffed, shaking her head. "You don't even know that girl! What she is, Severus! You could be great, one of the powerfullest wizards in the world, and instead you just want to be a pathetic sap in love with _her_?"

"I don't want power."

"Of course, you want power. Everyone wants power, silly boy!"

"I don't. Not anymore." When he saw the look of horror spread across the elderly witch's face, he knew she understood. "You can tell whomever you've got on this mission of yours, they'll fail every time. I no longer want power. I don't want any bit of it. Do you know why, Diana?" She took a step back from him. "Because the last time I wanted power, I found myself enslaved to a madman. And then enslaved to another. I lost everything I cared about, and I'll be damned if I let it happen again. Do we understand one another?"

"No. It's not supposed to—"

"Be like this?" he finished for her before he scoffed. "Whatever you think should happen, it won't. I'm not the man you think you know. Not anymore. I will not give in to the darkness you want me to do, Diana. I've become so sick of that life, and I'm so ready for a different one."

"But with you—with you, Severus, I could have her back. We could have everyone we ever lost back. Don't you understand?"

"Don't you?" he replied flatly.

She took one last step from him with horror-filled eyes. "I just want her back. That's it. I just want my niece back." She then turned on her heels and Disapparated away.

Frowning, Severus turned away once she was gone and returned to Aurora's side. He looked her over and waved his wand down her to ensure that she didn't have any spinal fractures. When he was certain that she didn't, gently, he picked her up into his arms and carried her back towards the manor. It'd hit him much later that night while sitting next to Aurora's bedside what Diana meant by her words. That only he could bring back the dead. That he had done it already once before in another timeline. That he was expected to do it again by those who had been watching him. That this was the role they wanted him to play in their sinister plot this time.


	12. Ripples

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to see some more ripples in the broken timeline. As always, enjoy. :)

Several hours later, Aurora was safe and sound again, as was the rest of the family. There wasn't a point in Severus fussing over her he knew, especially not when Demetri was watching her like a hawk. So, instead, he found himself tucking in his adorable, messy-haired son. More than a few times already, he was near tears from laughing at some ridiculous story the little brat was telling.

"Pixies, Dada! This big!" Harrison squealed as his arms were spread as far apart as he could get them. "And I was floating around the room cause of them. Cause they had got me. And then there was a guy, like you, Dada, but more happy and stupid, and he said to put the Pixies back. And then he left. Then there was this light, kind of bright, but not too bright, and they just fell. The Pixies fell. And there was a pretty girl and a red-hair boy with me. I didn't see them then at first. There was another boy too, kind of fat and dorky. The pixies got him too and put him on the light. It fell, and, well, I don't know. But it was Pixies! I saw Pixies." The little brat smiled. "Am I gonna see them again, Dada?"

"Possibly," Severus replied with a careless shrug as he pulled the covers up underneath Harrison's chin. "But it was just a dream, brat. It wasn't real, so no reason to be scared."

"I not scared, Dada!" Harrison proclaimed. "It was wicked!"

Snorting, Severus just barely kept his eyes from rolling. Of course Harrison would think Pixies were cool. Frankly, Severus found them to be nuisances like the majority of the Wizarding World, but if his son liked them, so be it.

"Close your eyes, brat. Time for bed."

"But what about story?"

"You just gave me one, brat. A forty-five minute story in fact. Now, eyes, closed." He felt the corner of his lips twitch when he heard Harrison's huff and pouty look. The brat was getting more and more adorable by the day. Not that he'd ever tell the brat that. It'd go straight to his head, and no one needed the brat to be any brattier. "Or else you won't get to spend the day with Grandpa and Grandmum." It was an empty threat, but one he knew would work.

"But—"

"Eyes closed," Severus repeated firmly, thankful when Harrison settled in a second later. He'd ignore the brat's brief glare directed at him for now. Getting mad at the boy wasn't going to help.

Ten minutes later, the sweet boy was fast asleep, drool slowly rolling down his face.

Severus waited for a few more minutes just in case the boy woke back up, but when Harrison didn't, he left. He considered checking on Aurora, but decided against it. Demetri would likely hex him if he went in there again. Not that she was blaming him for Aurora getting hurt again, but she wasn't exactly thrilled with him at the moment either.

"Harrison finally asleep?" Tobias asked as Severus entered the kitchen a few moments later.

"Yes. He had to tell me all about his latest Pixie dream." The young father shook his head and grabbed a cup from the cupboard.

"The one where the teacher let loose a bunch of Pixies, and he had to wrangle them back into their cages?"

"That's the one." Severus poured himself a cup of tea. "I haven't the faintest idea where the boy got the idea for that dream, but he will never find himself anywhere near Pixies if I have to say anything about it."

His dad chuckled and slid the bowl of sugar towards Severus when he sat down at the table across from him. "And the lass? How's she doin'?"

"Bumps and bruises from what I can tell, but Demetri is with her now so . . ." Severus shrugged and added a spoonful of sugar to his tea.

"And?"

Glancing at his father, he frowned. "What?"

Tobias scoffed and shook his head. "Son, you've barely said anything since ya two got back from yer disastrous walk. Now that the dust has settled down, think ya can elaborate a bit?"

"What's to say, Dad? We went out for a walk, and she was attacked."

"Christ, son. Some days I swear yer intentionally frustrating. Ya went out on yer walk. Did ya happen to discuss the whole 'Jumpin' yer bones' thing ya two got goin' on? Or is that unresolved yet?"

"What does my love life have to do with you, Dad, that it matters so much?"

"It matters because I don't want ya to be alone."

"I'm not alone. I have Harrison, Mother, and you."

"You know what I mean, Severus."

"In case it slipped your mind, I currently have people who want to turn me dark, Dad, in order to bring back their dead loved ones. So, you know, I think my not making my love life a priority now is a pretty responsible thing to do. Don't you?"

"I suppose yer right, but—"

Severus just barely suppressed his groan in time. Of course there was a but.

"Ya deserve happiness too, Severus. And, well, with her being around, we're all seein' it," his dad stated quietly. "Though, you two need to just get it over with and shag already if only to spare us the whole tension yer puttin' off."

"There's no tension, Dad!" He scoffed, muttering a second later under his breath, "Merlin's bloody balls." He then turned towards his father. "Just admit it, Dad. You and Mother are both trying to force us into this relationship just so you can get more grandchildren."

"Well, yeah, but that ain't the only reason."

"Of course it's not," Severus grumbled, rolling his eyes before he finished his cup of tea.

"You can't blame us for wantin' ya to be happy, son. I mean, Christ, Severus, when yer around that girl, ya seem years younger. And don't get me started on when she's around ya and Harrison. She's good. Good for you and that little boy of yers. So, yeah, we do want ya to just go for it. Cause a lass like that, shit, son, she ain't gonna wait forever."

With his hand clenched tightly in a fist at his side, Severus stood up, glaring at his father. He wanted to yell how her future self had waited for him, had stood by his side for so long in the shadows when no one else had. However, he didn't want to fight about a pointless argument as ridiculous as this was. So, instead, he forced his smile to his lips, clenching his jaw, and spat out, "Good night, Dad." He didn't even wait for his father's reply before he whirled around and left the kitchen.

They didn't understand. None of them did. He cared for her. He did. Just life was getting in the way, and he knew that she'd be there, that she loved him and was patient. It may have been knowledge he shouldn't have had, but he did. So, why rush things when it could wait?

He headed up the stairs, forcing himself to breathe evenly and remove all of his anger with each exhale. There were people out there who wanted to hurt him, to force him to turn to the darkness again. Would it be easy to say screw that and remain in bed with Aurora until end of time? Hell yes. But it wasn't the right thing to do. For so long he had been in the Dark Lord's ranks, a Death Eater, always in the shadows, always caressed by death and pain. A leopard never changed it spots that quickly. So why were they all expecting him to change so quickly?

"Severus?" a soft voice spoke from the landing above him.

He glanced up and saw Demetri. His eyes narrowed on her briefly, noting that she was dressed in her outer robes. Was she going somewhere?

"Aurora would like to speak with you," she said quietly, her eyes falling to the floor soon after.

He thought about asking her if everything as all right, but decided against it. Clearly that would have been a stupid question. Instead, he inclined his head politely to her before he headed towards Aurora's rooms, a few feet from where he had been previously.

Pausing briefly, he sighed silently and then knocked.

"It's open," Aurora called out from behind the door.

He slowly turned the knob and entered, finding her just finishing to button the last one on her outer robes. He stopped for half a second before he continued. Where were they going?

"Normally, I don't like being summoned," he started to say, hoping his tone was light, "but I suppose I can make an exception for you." When he heard her snort, he felt himself relax slightly.

"Glad to hear it." She then glanced up at him with a soft, sad smile. "I finished reading that journal you left earlier."

"Already?" It had taken him several days to finish reading all of it. Though, he supposed she understood more of the time travel jargon than he had and hadn't needed to research what certain things were. He then noticed her head shake.

"I didn't read all of it. Just enough to understand some things."

"Well, that's good then."

She frowned. "No. It's not." She then sighed and ran a hand through her curls before she grabbed the journal from her night stand. "I realize you thought you were doing the right thing by giving this to me, but it's not mine, Severus. I'm not her. This version of Aurora Sinistra."

"Not currently, no, but there are aspects that—"

"This journal, this version, I mean, Severus, you read it. She came back to Hogwarts for him. I didn't. I stayed away."

"Which could be a result of the timeline being disrupted."

"Not 'could be.' It was." She shook her head again. "No one should have this knowledge. Especially not after meeting Diana and hearing what sort of plans she has for it." She stepped towards him before she paused and turned away after thinking on it. "Which is why I'm going to destroy it."

"What?" He had felt a punch to his gut from her words. She was going to get rid of the evidence that had woken him to her? That had proved he had someone out there who loved him? When she turned back around and met his eyes, he sighed heavily. "I mean, it's your right obviously, but why?"

"Think about it, Severus. All Diana would have to do is find this and read it. And then, bam, she has the missing part of the puzzle. Of how your future self did it the first time."

"But she doesn't have me, though."

Aurora laughed quietly, shaking her head. "Severus, do you know why this worked? Why he was able to come back when so many others have failed?"

"Because I'm a powerful and brilliant wizard obviously," he deadpanned, thankful when she burst out laughing. He loved hearing her laughter. It was so calming to him, relaxing and energizing.

"Other than that," she replied, still laughing softly. She gently rested a hand against his arm, her smile slowly faltering with another sigh. "It worked because he had nothing left to lose, Severus. Because he was so heartbroken and distraught that he decided to destroy every rule, every check and balance that would otherwise prevent it. He did this all for her."

"And for him and the boy."

She nodded in agreement but continued. "He had seen so much pain, so much loss. It breaks one's soul to experience so much agony as he did. To go so long without any respite, relief."

Severus didn't understand why she was telling him this. He knew all of that. He had read the journal fully unlike her.

"He chose Death, welcomed it like an old friend. That's why all of this worked for him. Because he wasn't doing it for himself. Maybe to lessen the pain he felt, sure, but it was clear that he just didn't give a damn about himself after her death. All that mattered to him was to right the wrongs of the past, and by doing so, he undid our present."

"But we've undone that damage already, Aurora, or most of it at least."

"You don't understand."

"Of course I don't freaking understand. Astronomy and time travel crap are your thing," he spat, his temper flaring unexpectedly.

"Diana wants her niece back. You said that to me earlier when we spoke. She thinks that you can do that because that's what your future self did. Came back and fixed all the wrongs. That's her, though, Severus. However, those goons I fought in Diagon Alley, they didn't want you to turn dark. They wanted to kill you."

"What's your point, Aurora?" He was growing tired of this conversation.

"You're trapped in another power struggle, except this time it's not Dumbledore and Voldemort. Diana is one of the players, but the other one . . . that one wants you dead."

"So, what do you suggest?" There had to be a point to her speech.

"Diana will continue to attack because she has nothing left to lose either anymore, Severus. That makes her very dangerous, so she will come after your family and me. She thinks that all that needs to happen is you turn dark, and everything returns the way she wants it to. She's like a rabid dog in that instance. The other player, though—they don't have any regard for human life. They don't care about his fixing things. They care about something else entirely. If I were a betting person, I'd say it's a former follower of Voldemort because this person is making it very personal in their attacks."

She was right he realized. There had been two different types of attacks lately. He hadn't connected that yet. Though, he had been distracted unfortunately.

"All right. Then, what?"

"We pit them against one another, Severus. Diana wants you alive. Hell, she _needs_ you alive. The other person, they want you dead. What do you think she'll do when she realizes someone is trying to kill you?"

"In case it's escaped your mind, I basically told her to get lost, though. What makes you think she'll even care about someone trying to kill me?"

"Because of her words about me, Severus. She was warning you to stay away from me. That I'm not worthy enough to be with you. That shows she cares about your wellbeing."

"So, then, you suggest I write to her and let her know that someone's trying to kill me?"

"Yes. Divide and conquer. It was a strategy Voldemort used a lot of."

It was more like just conquer, but he saw her point. If Diana managed to get rid of the people trying to kill him, then they could deal with the heartbroken witch.

"And while I'm writing to her, what exactly are you and Demetri going to be doing?" he asked, deciding to take the bull by the horns and confront her.

"What I've been doing, Severus. Finding a way to stop the bleeding of our present timeline."

He couldn't help it. The words just flew from his mouth. "And what in the Nine Hells makes you the sole person who has to fix that?" He noticed her body go rigid and her eyes flash instantly in response to his words.

"It's my responsibility, Severus, because someone decided to just say 'Fuck it' and meddle with time because of me. Now, if the Unspeakables weren't busy trying to kill you or whatnot, I'd leave it in their more than capable hands. But I can't because they are."

"So, then, you're planning on running off to who-knows-where with Demetri where you could be killed? Perfect, Aurora. Brilliant plan." His anger and hurt was coming off him like waves. He had just gotten her back, and she was going to leave again? No. He wouldn't let her.

"Are you honestly suggesting I can't take care of myself?" she snapped, glaring at him.

"Well, forgive me, _Princess Aurora_ ," he all but snarled at her, "but you did just get your arse handed to you by an eighty-year-old witch after all. Of course, I can forgive you for forgetting that seeing as how I had to carry your unconscious self back up to the manor afterwards."

He half-expected her to slap him for that comment, but she didn't. Instead, she laughed angrily and glared daggers at him.

"Just promise me, Severus, that if I do happen to die since you think I'm a damsel in distress all the time, that you won't just say screw it again and come back to fix everything. Because trust me. If I have to undo your mess one more time, I'm going to kill you myself."

"No one asked you to fix it this time!"

"Oh, well, forgive me!" she yelled, throwing her arms up in the air. "I mean, it's not like I don't want to be with you at some point, you arse! But, of course, you have all the answers, so, of course, you know that if I don't happen to fix it, that the possibility of you and me happening is about as much as the Triwizard tournament happening ever again in this century! I mean, come on. How could I forget that I'm talking to the smartest man alive who knows all?"

"I can do without your sarcasm, witch!" he growled, taking a step closer to her.

"And I can do without your reckless disregard for yourself and overall laissez faire attitude about the ramifications of stupid time travel, you ridiculous wizard!" she growled, taking a step closer to him so their chests were touching.

Neither one of them noticed that the door had opened.

"I'd rather be ridiculous than be a starry-eyed twit like you!"

"Oh, go bury your nose in a cauldron why don't you!"

"Okay then, so we've still got the sexual tension I see," a voice stated from the doorway. "I'll just go and wait downstairs."

Both Severus's and Aurora's heads snapped towards the doorway, and they watched Demetri leave in silence as Demetri closed the door behind her again.

"Why do you have to upset me like this all the damn time, Severus? Circe!" she yelled, tugging on a few of her curls hard. "I love you, you big idiot, for reasons that I don't fucking know why right now. But I love you." She was shaking her head and trying to control her breathing again. "You think I want to leave you all the time? I don't! But someone has to fix this before the timeline decides to unravel fully, and one of us vanishes for good."

He grabbed her wrists. "That doesn't have to be you, Aurora."

"I don't see anyone else doing a damn thing about it. Do you?"

Instinctively, he tightened his grip on her wrists briefly. He didn't want her to go. He wanted her to stay there with him. He didn't want to lose her. Didn't she understand that? With a sigh a moment later, he let go and stepped back from her.

"It shouldn't take long," she said quietly. "Just need to somehow find a way back in to the Ministry and to the Department of Mysteries."

"They were destroyed, though."

"I'm sure parts were, but the Ministry has strong protections around key parts according to Kingsley. I'm guessing the Time room would be one of those along with the Death room."

He nodded, unable to speak. When he felt her hand against his cheek a moment later, he glanced at her. Why did she have to leave him again?

"Before I go," she started to say softly. She smiled sadly when his eyes narrowed on her. She brushed back his long hair tenderly before she leaned in and kissed him.

His eyes closed, and he leaned in more, deepening their kiss. He wanted her to know how badly he didn't want her to go, how much he needed her to stay. Inhaling deeply, he smelled her familiar scent of raspberries. A tingle started to take over his lips then. At first, he thought nothing of it. But then when the tingle started to trail down his body, he found himself pulling back. It was then he noticed how weird he was feeling, lightheaded on second thought.

"It's okay, Severus. Relax." He heard her say.

He gasped, realizing what she had done. His eyes darted to her in shock first then outrage.

"Shh. It's okay."

How on earth was it okay? She had drugged him! He could feel himself slowly be lowered onto the bed and tried struggling against whatever she had given him. It didn't work, though.

"It's a mild paralytic. It'll wear off in an hour," Aurora explained softly, leaning over him now. "Demetri is going to come in here in a little bit, wondering why it's so quiet. She can remove it."

He glared at her. What the hell was she doing?

"I had to do this, Severus. I know you don't understand, and that you'll hate me. And I understand that. But I can't have anyone knowing where I went."

What? He inhaled sharply, thankful that the paralytic had allowed him to. She wasn't going to the Ministry then like she had said? What on earth was going on?

"I'm not the Aurora in that journal, Severus. I'm not her. She couldn't live without being by your side, knowing you were safe. I can, because I know you and trust you." She closed her eyes. A few tears slipped down her cheeks onto the bed silently. "Which is why I have to leave. It's not our time yet. If ever now after this stunt of mine." She laughed sadly. "Demetri would try to stop me. You would try too. But it needs to be done to fix this properly." She placed a hand over his heart and stifled a sob. "I'm so sorry." A second later, she pulled back and moved from his line of sight.

He closed his eyes to concentrate on the sounds. He could hear her still moving about the room, so she hadn't Disapparated yet. At the sound of the fire crackling more then, he wondered what she tossed in the fire, the journal? She then reentered his line of sight, placing a deep cerulean liquid-filled vial on the nightstand beside him. The paralytic potion she had used on him no doubt, he realized.

Her hand returned to his chest above where his heart would be. Her eyes were closed again with a few more tears splashing down her cheeks. Inhaling slowly, she murmured a soft spell that he didn't immediately recognize. However, when he felt the warmth flood through him a moment later, he realized in horror what her spell was. Her eyes met his, and then she was gone in a blinding bright light.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes later, he flew up from the bed, panting loudly. He had nearly collided with Demetri when she had undid the effects of Aurora's paralytic potion. He grabbed Demetri's upper arms, his eyes searching hers.

"Aurora!"

"Severus, calm down!" Demetri replied, understandably confused by his reaction.

"No. No, Aurora, Demetri, Aurora . . ."

"Is gone. I know," the young witch replied with a deep frown. "Because she's an idiot who thinks she has to do this alone for some reason."

"No." He shook his head angrily. Why wasn't Demetri shutting up so he could speak? "She cast Fate's Judgment." When he saw Demetri's eyes widen, he knew she understood.

"But that's—Severus, why would she cast that? The Ministry banned that spell long ago."

Oh, he was very much aware of that. He had read the stories just as she had about lost souls who had cast that spell and were returned a lifeless shell. He saw Demetri's shoulders slump.

"Morgana created that spell, Severus. It was after she messed with time in Camelot. Not a lot of people know that origin. They only know that the Ministry banned it so no one would ever be allowed to use it and die again. Do you . . . why would she cast it? What did she say to you before she did?"

"That she was sorry, but it had to be done in order to fix time properly."

Demetri shook her head and scoffed. "Wait here." She then stood up and headed for the door.

He waited patiently for her to return, turning his head to the lit fireplace and noticing the flames licking the badly-burned journal Aurora had undoubtedly tossed in earlier. He turned away a moment later, feeling ill at the sight of it burning.

When Demetri returned a moment later, she was accompanied with Morgana's portrait, which Demetri temporarily hung near them.

"We need to know about Fate's Judgement."

"You and the rest of the world," Morgana drawled with a bored sigh.

"Morgana, I'm not messing around here. Aurora used it. Now, talk before I carve up your portrait," Demetri snapped, her nostrils flaring.

"If your friend used it, then there's no reason for us to talk."

"Morgana," Demetri said, pulling a knife out from underneath her robes, "I am not joking. You will help, or I will use this knife and carve pretty little symbols into your portrait."

"Your threats, child, will do no good. There's no reason for us to talk because she's already with the Fates, and no one can come back from them unless _they_ want you to."

"How did you come back from them?" Severus asked.

"I proved to them I had learned my lesson," Morgana replied with a shrug. "That my time in power in Camelot wasn't really all that I had imagined, which it wasn't. I showed them that I had seen the error of my ways. Was repentant in other words." She pursed her lips briefly and sighed. "Though, I do have to give her credit. She's at least using the fastest option in fixing the timeline than I had. I spent almost a year trying to undo the damage I created before finally asking the Fates to intervene on my behalf. It cost me greatly in the end. It's how I learned magic always has a price."

"If I cast that spell—" Severus started to say.

"They'll reject you," Morgana interrupted. "They have her. They don't need you."

"But she wasn't the one—"

The witch scoffed in her portrait. "As if that matters." Her eyes then met his. "Even if you did cast it, they wouldn't think about you for a second. You are apart from them and their influence now."

"What do you mean by that?"

Morgana, however, turned away from him, clearly finished with their conversation.

Demetri opened her mouth to say something, but Morgana had the last word as she left the portrait soon after.

"What did she mean by that?" Severus asked, glancing at Demetri. "How am I apart from the Fates' influences?"

Demetri shrugged, shaking her head. "I haven't the slightest idea."


	13. Master of Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that wasn't too long of a wait for all of you. :) Enjoy, as always.

With his feet planted firmly on the hardwood floor, Severus sat up and stared out the nearby window to the right of his bed. He didn't feel like getting up quite yet. He would, though, eventually. He watched the angry rain pelt against the glass, sounding as if rocks were being thrown at it. It had rained for two weeks now with no end in sight.

At the sound of his door creaking open, he closed his eyes, keeping his back to the door. Soft, familiar footfalls then approached.

"Dada?"

Reluctantly, Severus turned his head and glanced at his little green-eyed brat. Without another word, Harrison wrapped his arms around him the best he could do and warmly embraced Severus.

"Thank you, brat," Severus said softly a few moments later, ruffling the boy's hair. He couldn't sit there feeling sorry for himself any longer. He had a little boy who counted on him, who needed a father. Pushing himself up a second later, he held out a hand and waited for little Harrison to grab it before they headed downstairs for breakfast.

Demetri looked up from the book she had been reading the minute the two walked in and smiled.

"There's my big man," Tobias drawled before he picked up Harrison gently and carried him to a nearby chair. "Grandpa was wonderin' where ya went." He then glanced to Severus. "Want a cup? Just brewed it myself."

"And it tastes just like Goblin piss," Demetri stated with a wide grin before she laughed when Tobias swatted the back of her head with a rolled-up evening edition of the _Daily Prophet_. "I mean, it's good. Best cup I ever had."

"Cheeky brat," Tobias mumbled as he moved off.

Severus chuckled softly and sat down at the table. He looked over at Demetri's opened page and frowned at the runes. "Find anything yet?" He knew she had been researching about Fate's Judgment.

"Not yet," she replied with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean anything."

He nodded and proceeded to grab the cup of tea from his dad's outstretched hand. Two weeks Aurora had been gone. Two weeks.

Limbo. That was the hell he was in now. He had tried at first to stay up in his room away from the others, but his mother had other ideas. He was now expected down in the kitchens for breakfast, or else she'd drag him down there by his ear. After the third day of that occurring, he decided it had been enough and decided to appease her, if only temporarily.

Demetri had struck a deal with him as well. She'd let him know of any findings she had and would make it a point to be at breakfast, so they could talk. He was very grateful and appreciative of this kind gesture on her part. She didn't have to do this, he knew.

"Though, I did learn something interesting."

Severus's head shot up and snapped towards her.

"In order for her to have cast it, she had to—"

"Enough!" Eileen's voice sharply cut in as the older woman walked in to the kitchen with a thin, disapproving frown. "The silly girl is gone, Severus. Do you hear me? She's gone. She made her bed, so stop wasting any more of your precious time on her. She left you. Left all of us in order to be a foolish hero or whatever it was she was hoping to accomplish. She failed. Now, get over her and move on."

"Move on? Mother, she cast that—"

"Because _she_ believed that there were ripples in the timeline. Tell me, Severus. Have you dreamt anymore about your future self's life? Hmm?" When he frowned, she scoffed. "I thought not." She then waved a hand towards Demetri. "That girl, right there in front of you, has been there for you. Continues to be there for you even after you push her away. Now, whatever may have happened between you and this Aurora in the future, it will not happen this time. She chose fixing the timeline over you."

"You don't know—"

"Nor do you, Severus. You've spent so much time fixated on her, and for what? For more heartbreak. That's _all_ she gave you. That's _all_ she would have given you." She then crossed her arms. "Me? Oh, well, I surely count this as a blessing in disguise. You deserve better."

Unable to sit and take a second more of his mother's hate-filled vitriol, he stood up and glared down at her. He briefly considered drawing his wand and leveling it on her, but she wasn't worth that. No. To truly hurt Eileen, he knew what he had to do.

"You're right, Mother. I do deserve better." His voice was hard and cold.

"Severus, don't," Demetri cut in.

"Son, stop," Tobias said as well, moving to grab Severus's arm.

He sidestepped his father's hand and stepped closer to his mother. "I deserved a mother who actually loves her son, who actually was there for him when he needed her, who loved him completely, who loved him more than her own abusive lover. But I didn't get that. Did I, Mother? No. Instead, I had to suffer at the hands of Roger, of Voldemort, of Albus Dumbledore, of James Potter and his gang of bullies, of you-name-it." He watched her take a step back from him. "Aurora may have left again, but she didn't _leave_ me. You may not understand it, but she loves me. Loves me, Mother. Unconditionally. Without any hesitation. Without any regrets. Without any doubt in her soul. So, by all means, do try to tear down my feelings for her, because all you will ever do in that is show me once again that she is one of the few women in my life I can truly count on. And that you are not."

"She drugged you, Severus. Tell me. Is that something a woman does to a man she loves?"

"She did that, so I couldn't stop her."

"You didn't answer my question. Is that something a woman does to a man she loves, Severus? Drug him against his will in order to get her way? If so, then Roger _clearly_ loved me, didn't he?"

It was a low blow for the both of them, but it did make Severus take a step back from his mother. He then shook his head and scoffed.

"When Diana arrives, let me know, all right, Dem?" Severus asked, turning towards the younger witch before he whirled around and left the room.

His mother didn't know what the hell she was talking about. And what the hell was her problem with Aurora anyway? The two barely had even talked to one another. It wasn't like Eileen had even tried to get to know her. No. It was clear that in her eyes, Aurora would never be good enough. And it made him so angry to think of that.

As he paced in the library a few minutes later, he found himself twirling in his hands the ornate wand that Dumbledore had given him awhile back. He didn't like the feel of it in his hands, and he sure didn't like the power it held. It was too much for one person. Just like the cloak.

Why on Earth would anyone need an Invisibility cloak? Gits like Potter and Black he could understand, but this wasn't Hogwarts anymore. He knew how to cast powerful Disillusionment charms. He didn't need the cloak. But it appeared it was an heirloom for Harrison to have. Though, that didn't necessarily make sense on second thought. Dumbledore had entrusted Severus with it, not the boy. Then again, Harrison was hardly of age for it. His mind continued spinning in circles.

Sighing, Severus moved towards a few black, dusty tomes, still twirling the wand in his hand, as he approached one book in particular that had a strange, yet oddly familiar symbol etched into its binding: a triangle with a circle inside and a vertical line running down the middle of both to split them in two. He reached towards the symbol, and his fingers traced it gently.

The familiar power deep within him surged through his veins as he did this. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply.

A flash of light, and he saw the Dark Lord pointing the wand in his hands at a green-eyed young man who seemed determined to defeat the dark wizard.

Another flash, and there was the same green-eyed young man from before pulling the familiar cloak tighter around himself before disappearing under its slippery material.

One last flash, and once more the green-eyed young man stood before Severus, turning over something in his hands once, twice, three times before a swirl of Severus's former classmates appeared. It was like a punch to his gut at the sight of Lily, James, Remus, and Sirus.

" _You'll stay with me?"_ the green-eyed young man asked the four shades, his voice trembling.

" _Until the very end."_

A knock against the door brought Severus back to reality violently, and he sighed heavily. It had been that same thing over and over again that he had seen lately. Without a doubt, he knew the images he had seen were the boy's future memories if things had not changed.

Every single time he saw those memories, he found himself hugging the boy even tighter later. No one deserved to live a life like that.

His dark eyes darted to the opening door.

"Diana's here," Demetri stated as she stepped inside the room.

"Thank you." He dipped his head forward slightly before he exhaled. Now that he knew Diana had arrived, he found himself wondering if this would work or not. Originally when he had sent the owl, he was convinced it was the right thing to do. Now, though, he wasn't so sure.

He moved away from the dusty tomes, pocketing the ornate wand Dumbledore had given him again. As he brushed past Demetri, he paused when she gently grabbed his arm.

"If you need me . . ."

"I know," he replied quietly. "But I'll be fine, Dem." He then forced a grin to his lips. "After all, I'm one of the powerfullest wizards in the world, or haven't you heard that?" He chuckled quietly when he heard her snort and saw her eyes roll.

"Oh, whatever." She then released him and allowed him to pass by.

As he headed back downstairs, he found his mind wandering again. Had it not been for Demetri's friendship, these past two weeks would have been unbearable. It wasn't that she was necessarily doing anything special for him. It was more along the lines that she was there and making him feel better without fussing about him like his parents were doing.

When he saw Diana a few moments later standing in the entryway, he briefly considered turning away and leaving. He could do this later. But he didn't. Instead, he drew in a breath and pressed forward, hoping that he hadn't just let the devil into the manor.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation," he stated.

"I'm grateful you offered," the older witch replied, brushing back her hair slowly. Her eyes then swept around the room before she returned her gaze to him. "Your . . . girlfriend isn't here, I take it?"

He forced a polite smile to hide the pain her words caused and stuck a hand into his pocket, feeling his long fingers brush against something small that was cold and smooth like a stone.

"She's indisposed currently." He then held out an arm to her, motioning her to the empty room off to their side. He was thankful when Diana headed to it without another word. He closed the door behind them a moment later. When he turned back, he noticed that Diana had already found the reason why he had chosen this room. He waited his turn, knowing that deep down she had needed this.

"Emma . . ." she murmured, her eyes staring up at the portrait of her dead niece. Diana then whirled around.

"It wasn't infused with magic, but the portrait is yours if you'd like it," he offered quietly, uneasy under Diana's eyes. "I'm aware it won't bring her back, but perhaps it'll ease your pain a bit."

"You . . . thank you, Severus," Diana said, dipping her head to him in gratitude. "But I owe you an apology. When we last met . . ." Her voice trailed off before she sighed. "You were correct to tell me off as you did that day. For so long, I've—well, I don't need to bore you with those details. I'm sure you can imagine." She then flashed a somber half-smile. "This portrait, though . . . thank you."

He waved away her gratitude, not wanting it at all. Gratitude wouldn't help anyone.

"You stated in your letter that you wanted us to speak?"

He nodded. He still wasn't certain how he was going to approach this with her. "You've been watching me for quite some time. No doubt, you're aware I've been attacked several times this past year by people hellbent on killing me for disrupting the timeline and ending the status quo." He noticed her eyes narrow on him briefly before she resumed her neutral look. "It's why you think I'm so powerful. Because my future self returned to this time and changed things for what he hoped was the better."

Diana crossed her arms and scoffed. "That's not why I know you're powerful, Severus."

"Oh?"

She half-smiled again and shook her head. "Albus truly never told you? Not even Riddle said anything to you?"

His eyes narrowed on her in confusion. What was she going on about? "Tell me what?"

She laughed quietly to herself. "All this time, I thought you knew. That they had told you who you were destined to be. I see now that I was wrong."

"Destined to be?" he repeated with a frown. "What are you saying?"

"Your future self who came back in time, Severus, he didn't tell you either?" She laughed incredulously. "I can't believe it. No wonder you haven't a clue."

He didn't know whether to feel insulted or not by her statement. As it was, he crossed his own arms defensively.

"You're the master of Death, Severus."

"What?" He took a step back from her, blinking in confusion.

"Please do tell me someone has read the story about the three brothers to you."

"The children's story?"

She snorted. "Well, that's one way to describe it, yes." She then waved her hand at him and shook her head. "It's about the Deathly Hallows, Severus. You do know about them, right?"

"The what?"

She rolled her eyes. "I see I have to explain everything."

His frown grew before he sarcastically replied, "Well, forgive me, Diana. Albus did love his secrets after all."

"That he did." She scoffed a moment later. "Very well then. The Deathly Hallows, they're real objects. Sure, you'll hear the old ones claim it's nothing more than tall-tales, but I happen to know they are very much real." She stood a bit straighter then. "It was why my sister agreed to Emma's marriage to an Ashmore in the first place."

"What do you mean?"

"The Ashmore line descends from Antioch Peverell, one of the three brothers, and whom was rumored to have a powerful wand that would never lose. Well, at least until his throat was slit in the middle of the night," she said with an uncaring shrug. "The story the old families won't tell is why he dueled. Oh, they made it seem that he had just gone off the rails one night and dueled another wizard for the hell of it, but what they leave out is that he dueled that other wizard because that man had attacked a woman. Of course to show her appreciation for Antioch's actions, they shared a bed together. Marcus loved to tell that story to anyone who'd listen at the dinner parties." She scoffed, rolling her eyes. "And my sister, dumb as she was, thought Emma's marrying Lorian would rub something off on the Selwyn family, as if we couldn't hold our own." She smiled nastily. "We're alive, and they're not. So, I think we won, don't you?"

"This wand of his . . . what happened to it? Eventually, I mean?"

She stared at him as if he had grown a second head for a moment before she shook her head. "Well, eventually, it fell into Albus Dumbledore's hands when he won it from Grindelwald, and now yours, Severus."

"What?"

"Must I repeat myself?" She then huffed. "You own Antioch's wand, the Elder Wand, the Death stick, the wand of power . . . the wand given by Death himself. Need I go on, or do you understand?"

He stared at her, his mouth slightly open. She had to be joking . . . right?

"And I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, Albus did the right thing and passed along Ignotus's cloak to you as well, yes?" She then waved her hand again. "And before you ask, Ignotus was another of the brothers."

Harrison's cloak was another Hallow? He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. Why couldn't he just have one normal year? That was all he wanted.

"Your future self, I'd imagine, gave you the stone. Likely in the letter he had given you before his demise. Together, you've united the Deathly Hallows, and the one who does that is a master of Death. Now, there is another requirement of course, which considering what you've endured over the years was easy. To accept death as a part of life and realize that there are worse things than death. And that, my boy, is just the abridged version that I know."

He reopened his eyes and stared at her.

"That's why I know you're powerful, Severus, because _you_ _are_ the master of Death itself. Reviving a lost love, thirsting for inconceivable power, and greeting Death like an old friend? Tell me. Doesn't that sound oddly enough just like you, hmm?" She smiled warmly at him before she laughed.


	14. Fatal Errors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the beginning of this chapter was inspired by a comment I received from Dixie.f.9 on my last chapter on FFnet. The comment just resonated so much with me that my muse decided to take it and run with it. I do apologize for the swearing, but, well, in my mind both Tobias and Severus are rather rough souls at heart with a few jagged edges. For those who have read my Tragedy series, you should recognize our dear Fates. :) As always, enjoy.

So now on top of everything else in his life, he was expected to be the Master of Death now too? He scoffed and shook his head. He just wanted a normal life for once. He was pretty certain he was owed that after all that he had been through recently. But at least now he knew the answer to how he was apart from the Fates. Not that he liked that answer at all.

Sighing angrily, he considered for half a moment destroying the empty room, ripping every single shred of books and tomes in the library and turning it all into confetti. Though, he knew that wouldn't satisfy his temper in the slightest. So, instead, he just glared out the window, clenching his teeth and fists. Damn them all to hell!

"Guessin' it didn't go well," Tobias drawled behind him as he approached. "Ya know, judgin' by how yer rattlin' all the windows, and, well, I don't see a lass in here with ya so only explanation is that."

Severus's head whipped around. What?!

"So, what'd Diana say to get yer balls in such a knot anyway?" his dad asked, crossing his arms.

Scoffing, Severus rolled his eyes and shook his head. "As always, Dad, your ability to speak so eloquently never ceases to surprise me." Every word dripped with sarcasm.

"Yeah, and yer honey badger routine never gets old either, son. Now, out with it."

Out with it? As if it was _that_ easy.

"Fine," Severus spat, throwing his arms up. "I'm the fucking Master of Death, Dad! Isn't it brilliant? That's why the Fates don't give a flying fuck about me! Because I control fucking Death!"

"Language!"

"Language?" yelled the young man. "You just were talking about my balls, Dad! So, if anyone should watch his fucking language, it's you!"

"Watch yer fuckin' mouth there, Severus."

Unable to stop himself, the twenty-two-year-old took a step towards his dad. "You watch your fucking mouth first, you fucking, no-good-for-nothing, bastard who—"

"Jesus Christ," Tobias scoffed. "Ya seriously think ya can out swear me, son? Well, I'll show ya, ya cock-sucking prat who doesn't know the first thing about a lass let alone that lass of yers. Hell, I bet yer so borin' that missionary is the only—"

The words died on his lips as bubbles suddenly foamed out of his mouth.

Severus, too, found himself in the same situation as his father, as someone had cast a silent _Scourgify_ on both men.

"Now that I have your undivided attention," Eileen stated tersely, sliding her wand back into her sleeve, "perhaps you can both knock it the fuck off before my grandson starts a crescendo of swears that he learned from his idiot father and stupid grandfather. Do we understand each other?" When they both nodded, the spell ended and the bubbles disappeared. "Good. Now, what's this nonsense about you being the Master of Death?"

"Master of Death?" Demetri repeated as she entered the room with little Harrison in her arms. "Whoa. Back the goddamn train up. Who's the Master of Death?"

"Severus," Tobias replied.

"That's a complete load of bullshit," Demetri cried. "You can't be the Master of Death!"

"Will everyone cease in using swearwords around my grandson for Merlin's sake? I'd very much like it if he didn't end up like the rest of us, thank you." Eileen grabbed little Harrison from Demetri.

"Fine. But how in the hell could you be the Master of Death?" Demetri asked, ignoring Eileen's glare directed on her.

"Something to do with the Deathly Hallows. Diana believes that I have all of them and united them or something," Severus answered, shaking his head. "I have Dumbledore's wand and _an_ Invisibility cloak, but that doesn't mean they're either of these Hallow things. I mean, I don't even have this stone thing. If I did, I'd use it to bring Aurora back."

Eileen slapped a hand against her face. "The Resurrection Stone is for dead people. Your pathetic little girl friend isn't dead. She's just with the Fates. So, the stone wouldn't do any good."

"How am I supposed to know that? It's not like you read a lot of _Beedle Bards_ to me, Mum."

"No. Instead I was doing my best making sure you had a roof over your head, you ungrateful little brat!" Eileen snapped.

"All right there. Let's get back on topic, yeah?" Tobias stated with a frown, gently placing a hand on Eileen's arm. When she pulled back from him with a severe frown, he let his hand drop to his side. "So, yer this Master of Death accordin' to Diana. Sounds like it's a sh—bad deal. But maybe ya can use this to yer advantage."

"How so?"

"Well, maybe I'm mistaken, but it sounds like this Master of Death thing is a big deal. Like, not a lot people can say that."

"You're an idiot, Tobias," Eileen said, shaking her head.

"Love ya too, El, but just think about it for a minute. Ya master Death. Death, son."

"It was some stupid children's story, though. Hardly the work of some academic who had actually researched anything. In fact, they were written to teach lessons to unruly brats."

"But there's a sort of power that comes with—"

"I don't want power, Dad!"

Severus had learned that lesson long ago. Thirsting for power only brought forth deep pain to one's soul that could not ever be fully healed.

"I know ya don't want it, son, but ya got it. So . . . ya know, use it."

"And just how on Earth is he supposed to use it, Tobias?" Eileen asked dryly.

"Christ, I don't know. Ask Death for a meetin' with the Fates?" he replied with a shrug. "I'm just sayin' that if ya got this power, ya might as well use it for good. Maybe that's why yer, you know, future self set ya on this path. Cause he knew ya would."

"Or maybe he just was a complete and idiot dunderhead who was thinking with his heart and not his brain," Eileen cut in. "After all, Severus isn't even with that girl he's supposed to marry. Is he?"

Sighing, the young man glanced at little Harrison who was innocently staring at him. Or maybe his future self knew that if Severus was the Master of Death, it meant the boy wouldn't be this time and could just be a boy for once. He could have the normal childhood that he had been denied before.

~UP~

A few hours later, Severus lay in bed, staring out a nearby window. Harrison had been put to bed an hour earlier and was fast asleep now. Or at least that was what Severus was assuming as he hadn't heard the little pitter-patter of feet yet. However, the young father found that he himself couldn't be so lucky in finding sleep so easily as his son.

Sighing loudly, he puffed up his pillow for what seemed to be the hundredth time already that night. He couldn't get comfortable, or rather, he couldn't get his mind to shut off in order to be comfortable.

Master of Death? It was absurd, laughable really. Him? He scoffed, shaking his head as he hit the fluffy pillow once more. What good was being the Master of Death when he didn't have Aurora anymore? His frown deepened, and his eyes searched the cloudy skies outside.

He was becoming soft, he recognized. A man with his heart in his hand, vulnerable to attacks. How many men had he seen over the years in the Dark Lord's service be brought to his knees because of his lover? Too many. But Severus had lived a life without love, and he didn't want to return to that after having just a taste of a life with it.

He needed her back.

Idly, he wondered if this was how his future self felt after losing his wife. Lost and broken, searching the stars for answers and praying to see her again just one more time. He'd give anything to see her again. Hell, he'd kiss Black if it meant he'd see her.

Closing his eyes, he turned away and sighed.

He hadn't wanted this, any of this.

Didn't the Fates understand that? Didn't they see the harm they were doing? Didn't they care? Or were they, as he believed, cold and cruel just like Dumbledore and the Dark Lord? Forcing others to play their sick games of chess with others' lives?

"Is that truly what you believe of us?" a voice spoke from the darkness. "That we are nothing more than torturers?"

Severus slowly rolled over to look back where he had heard the voice. His eyes narrowed when he noticed the centaur standing in the middle of his bedroom at Ashmore Manor. It was an illusion, he knew. There was no way he hadn't noticed a centaur before. He then saw three others join the first.

"The pain you feel, I assure you, is nothing," an ashen man with reddish eyes declared coldly.

"You miss her, understandably, but this was _her_ choice, wizard," spoke an auburn-haired woman with amber-colored eyes. "She asked _us_ to pass judgment. Do you deny her that right?"

"I miss her," the twenty-two-year-old admitted with a slight tremor in his voice.

"We know you do, Severus," squeaked the familiar short stature wizard that was part goblin. "But she called on us to pass judgment, so we must do so."

"But she didn't do anything, Filius!" he replied, ignoring the fact that the Fates were likely using images from his mind of people he may have known at one point or another. " _I_ did!"

The pale man half-laughed, his pointy canines glistening in the soft light of the darkness. "You did nothing of the sort."

"My future self came back in time to—"

"To fix what we stood by and watched be broken," the woman in the group declared quietly with a somber look on her face.

"Rowan," the centaur warned, glancing at the woman with a disapproving look.

"No, Bane. He stands apart from us now. And by that alone, he deserves to know the truth." Rowan then glanced towards Filius and the vampire. "Do either of you disagree?" Filius shook his head while the vampire inclined his head to her and motioned for her to continue. Her amber eyes returned to the young wizard. "As I'm sure you've realized by now, Harry Potter was the one who would have become the Master of Death. A boy who had his childhood ripped from him. Thrusted into an adult world for no reason other than a broken prophecy and a madman's quest for immortality and power. He did what was asked of him, defeated the coward who knew nothing of power, regardless of the fact that it should never have been placed on his shoulders to begin with."

"Must you still argue this, Dryad?" Bane cried with a huff. "We agreed."

"And we were wrong, and the boy suffered for it," Rowan stated before she turned back to Severus. "With your future self's interference and his return to the past, to you, he altered the timeline in ways you cannot imagine."

"And it goes much further than what your dear Aurora believes, wizard," the vampire declared. "Much further."

"With no Harry Potter in this time, there was no hope. No faith. No belief."

"Darkness was able to take root. Corrupt and destabilize the line further than before."

"Until you accepted your destiny, _your_ fate, Severus."

Filius then stepped forward. "Rowan is right. We should not have left it all on young Harry's shoulders. He was just a boy, but we believed in Albus Dumbledore, believed in his goodness."

"One by one, we watched in silence as the line was broken, as the thread of destiny unraveled. Life ceased, and Death ruled. We said nothing. We _did_ nothing."

"As we are supposed to do," the vampire cut in.

"And Harry, oh young Harry, suffered as a result. He wasn't the only one, though." Rowan held Severus's eyes. "We turned our backs on you. You were Death's, not ours, we believed."

"The moment you chose darkness in a brief moment of defeat, we left, believing in error that if you had been chosen to master Death as was foretold, you would allow Death to lay waste to all, to give in to the anger inside you. We chose the boy then. He had a good heart, strong as well, able to take all that was thrown at him and not break. Little by little, we watched as our mistake grew, as he broke more and more, piece by piece, until there was very little left of him. When it was over, he chose not to become Death's master, tossing aside Death's gifts and favoring his own. He had grown sick of the darkness, of death itself. It was then we saw the error of our ways."

"That we had failed."

"Hogwarts tried to correct our mistake for us, though. Correct a mistake it had made because of our beliefs concerning you. It saved you. It defied Death."

"We couldn't understand why it had interfered when it had never done so before."

"And then we realized it. That the Horcrux in Hogwarts, the darkness that had festered for decades, that had given Death a hold on our world, had been destroyed. Hogwarts saved you because it saw what we did not. What we _could not_ see. It saw the goodness in your heart, the strength in your resolve, the love you would finally possess."

"We were glad to see you shed off the darkness finally, Severus," Filius stated with a sad smile.

"But we were too late. Our errors were too great. So, we failed, and Death won."

Severus looked at each of them, trying to comprehend what they were saying. He had been right, as he had feared. Harry would have been Death's Master had it not been for his future self's interference. But it seemed as if the boy hadn't wanted it, just as Severus himself felt now.

"Oh, there was peace for a while. Death waited as long as it could, but then it realized we knew we had been mistaken. That it should have always been you and not Harry."

"Aurora knew this in the end," Filius said quietly. "She knew you would stop at nothing to return to her, to be with her again. That you would throw out every rule in the book. That you would defy Death again."

"And so you did," Rowan cried. "And Death lost his hold."

"Your future self, when he returned, he was the one who won the Elder Wand's favor and became its master."

"Grief-stricken by what your future self showed him, Albus knew that the man he had seen in his office could only be the one to unite the Hallows for good. So, he sent the cloak and the wand to you."

"But this stone," the younger wizard interrupted. "I don't have it!"

"You do. You just don't realize it."

"I don't want this! I . . ." He glanced at each of them in stunned silence for a moment. "Don't you understand? I just want a normal life for once."

"And you can, Severus," Rowan said with a warm smile.

"Being Death's Master doesn't mean you have to fight Death. It's not so literal after all, wizard."

"Then what?"

"It means you accept death is inevitable and that there are things out there in the universe that are much worse than death."

"Immortality," the vampire grinned, "is just an added bonus really if you want it."

"I don't want immortality, though. I _want_ Aurora." The young twenty-two-year-old noticed the dryad Rowan glance towards the centaur named Bane almost immediately. "Do you hear me? I don't give a damn about immortality, power, any of that nonsense. I only want Aurora back."

"We're aware."

"Then give her back!" Severus growled, feeling his frustration roll off him in waves. "Now!"

"She asked us to pass judgment—" Rowan started to say.

"I don't give a damn what she asked of you. I'm telling you to give her back to me now!"

"We do not serve you, wizard! Nor are we at your beck-and-call either. We are—"

"Cowards who are no better than Dumbledore and the Dark Lord," he snarled.

The four then vanished from his room suddenly, leaving him alone again. Clenching his jaw, Severus glared at the darkness where they had been standing. He stood by his words even more then. Only cowards ran as they had.

Did he accept that death was inevitable? Of course, he did. Only a fool would not. Everyone died eventually. It was a fact of life. Hell, Voldemort himself eventually died, after having spent decades trying to escape its cold clutches.

And were there things out there worse than death? Severus scoffed again. A sick child in his father's helpless arms came to mind. A young man whose only true friends were the darkness within and loneliness were also on his list. A son unable to help his mother escape her abuser was another. He had a long list of things that were worse than death that he had learned over the years. But anyone who had ever experienced loss, heartbreak, betrayal, and desertion would know that. Surely, he wasn't that special. He never had been before.

_Deep, amused chuckles, his own he recognized a moment later, echoed around the silent room. "As I said, Mister Potter, you owe me."_


	15. Fate's Judgment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, my lucky readers. :) You are in for a treat. Two chapter updates at once. I couldn't just leave the cliffhanger on this chapter the way it was, so I dove right in onto the next. I will admit that I did have to go back through and fix my original idea for this chapter, so if there's a part that doesn't make sense for some reason, I apologize. I likely missed it during editing. As always, enjoy. :)

A few days later, Severus smiled down at his little boy and ruffled Harrison's hair affectionately as he tucked Harrison in for the night. He chuckled when he heard the boy's laughs. There was no doubt about it. He was changing this young child's life for the better. The boy's infectious, albeit high-pitched, laughter proved that every single day. And with each laugh, Severus felt his heart grow and warm once more. He couldn't deny it. He had fallen in love with his little boy, his brat. Though, he'd make sure that his son was anything but a silly Gryffindor this time. Not that there was anything wrong with Gryffindors of course, except their frequent near-death experiences they had. He wouldn't even get started about their sassy, know-it-all attitudes.

"All right, brat," the young father said quietly. "Eyes closed."

Harrison stared back up at him and bit his bottom lip, as he was clearly nervous about something.

"I'll be right here in the morning," Severus added softly, noticing immediately his words relaxed the boy and put his young mind at ease. "Promise."

"Night, Dada."

"Night, brat," Severus replied, sitting down in a chair beside Harrison's bedside.

He'd wait until the boy was asleep for at least an hour before even attempting to move from the chair. Otherwise, he knew Harrison would know something was up and wouldn't go to sleep again. It was still strange to think how well the boy knew him.

As he waited, he thought back on his conversation the other night with the Fates. He snorted silently then. Who would have thought the Fates would show themselves to him as a half-goblin, centaur, vampire, and dryad? Honestly, it sounded more like the start of a really bad joke, one his father might have told to be truthful.

Master of Death. It sounded strange to say. Yet, with all the evidence that was provided, he supposed he should at least consider it as the truth. He rubbed at his face tiredly. All he had ever wanted after realizing his error in joining the Death Eaters was the chance at living a normal life. To make up for that grave mistake. He had thought he had it when Dumbledore hired him as the Potions Master after Slughorn retired, but normalcy hadn't lasted long.

And now he was a man on the run again. Damn it! He was so sick and tired of running. Not to mention, that was no sort of life for a child like Harrison. No. Severus needed to end this. One way or another he would.

Which was why he had decided on his current course of action in the first place. He couldn't find his answers at Ashmore Manor. At least not the answers that really mattered. It was clear that at Hogwarts, though, he'd find them. The Fates had supplied him with that piece during their talk. The only problem was he knew how the other three adults in the manor would react if he told them of his plan, and he had no intention of them trying to talk him out of it.

Fifteen minutes had passed by since he had tucked Harrison in. His black eyes darted to the young boy, noticing that Harrison's breathing wasn't quite even yet. Severus watched the boy start to squirm then and glanced upwards at the ceiling. He hadn't wanted to do this, but he couldn't wait all night for the boy to fall asleep either.

Slowly snaking his hand back into his sleeve, he turned his wrist slightly, so his wand would slide into his hand. He closed his eyes as he cast his wordless sleeping charm on the young boy. Harrison's little body slackened instantly as his magical sleep carried him off to the deepest dreams.

Severus shook his head and suppressed his wince. He knew he shouldn't spell the boy asleep all the time as it'd likely cause the boy to have trouble sleeping later in life, but he couldn't wait any longer really. And deep down he knew the importance of keeping a promise to a son, and he was going to do everything in his power to do just that with Harrison always.

Flicking his wand once more, he locked the door to the room so that only he could unlock it. He didn't need any of the others to know that he wasn't there. In the morning, he'd lie if asked, stating he was just making sure Harrison was safe while they slept.

He then drew in a breath and spun on his heel, knowing the manor's wards would allow him through. The familiar tug behind his navel signaled he had Disapparated away. He knew what the others would say if they knew. That he was a fool for going out there unprotected, but he needed to know.

* * *

Pushing open the large wrought iron gates of Hogwarts, Severus slipped inside onto the quiet grounds. Off in the distance, he could hear the gentle hooting of the owls in the owlery settling in for the night. The castle, majestic as always, looked so foreboding now against the black, threatening skies overhead. He noticed the torches outside the castle, the Headmaster's—rather Headmistress's—office, and a dozen others lit, flickering lights giving way to the illusion of a lighthouse upon the high cliffs of the Scottish loch. Three steps later, he felt the sudden tingle of house elf magic surround him. His eyes widened, but before he could react, he vanished with a quiet pop.

Where there once was an earthly smell, now there was only the smell of neglect. When he reappeared a moment later, he found himself in a large, unfamiliar room stacked high with dusty old things that had been thrown in every which way. Judging by the old stone walls he could see in the distance, he guessed that he had been transported to some room at Hogwarts. But he had never been in this room in particular before he was fairly certain.

Drawing his wand, he looked about the messy room. There was no doubt that the room was stuffed full of crap over the last few centuries. He frowned as he passed by an old lunascope that had to have been at least a hundred years old.

"Hello?" he called out, his eyes darting around and looking for any sort of movement. After all, some house elf had to have brought him here for some reason.

It was a full minute of silence before he finally received his answer.

"Hello, Severus" was the soft reply he heard.

His wand lowered slightly. _Aurora?_ He whirled around to where he had heard her voice and then rushed towards the large crystalline object suspended in the air in the middle of the room where he could see an image reflected in its glass. He paused as soon as he had reached it, feeling a hint of déjà vu as he looked at the large crystal. Maybe he _had been_ in this room before. He couldn't be certain, though. But the crystal did seem familiar to him for some reason. But something was different now.

"Every version of you is always so fascinated by it," an amused voice spoke behind him.

He turned around, gripping his wand a bit tighter. However, when he saw the ethereal image of Aurora approaching him, he frowned before he lowered his wand a bit further. He couldn't necessarily explain why he didn't feel threatened by the image, but he just knew that he didn't need to feel like he was about to be attacked at any moment. That he would be all right if he relaxed if only for a bit.

"I take it that you're Hogwarts?" he stated softly towards the ghostly mirage. It couldn't be Aurora standing in front of him now he knew. The thing seemed too lifeless to be her, too inhuman. As he watched it a second longer, he felt the familiar ache in his chest flair up again. It hurt to look at this thing that had taken her image. To know that it wasn't her, and that she was still gone.

"I am." The mirage then morphed back into a gaseous state colored in various areas with each of Hogwarts' House colors. "Is this better for you? You seemed to prefer this form more the last time we spoke if I recall correctly."

His eyes narrowed briefly. "I'm afraid I don't recall that meeting."

"You wouldn't. I never interacted with _you._ "

"I don't follow." When he heard the soft laughter from the, for the lack of a better term, cloud, he forced himself not to react. "Have I said something amusing?"

"No. It's just that you're not that great at lying yet, I'm afraid," the Cloud replied amused. "Your other half, he could have convinced you that you were a true Gryffindor if given the chance, and you'd have believed him."

"I very much doubt that," Severus bristled, his eyes darting to the suspended crystal again.

"Why do you stare at it like that? The crystal? He did the same when he was here. It's as if you both know something I don't, which would be rather interesting I admit."

The young twenty-two-year-old shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I just feel like I've seen it before, I guess."

"Understandable, I suppose," the Cloud replied. "You were the Headmaster of Hogwarts when you returned to the past."

"What?" His eyes widened into saucers. He had been Headmaster?

"Oh, please, that's hardly _that_ surprising. You have it in you to be a great Headmaster if given a chance."

"I hate the little brats," he declared. "They're all idiots who know nothing regardless of their know-in-all attitudes that they think are cute. Every last one of them wouldn't know the first thing to do if a friend had been poisoned. So, why on Earth would I want that job? To be stuck here for a moment longer and forced to be near them even more?"

"Because you have a very strong protective streak that runs deep within you. And while you may claim you hate them, let's be honest. You haven't necessarily resigned quite yet. Now, have you?"

"I've been a little busy if you haven't noticed."

"Oh?" The Cloud of Hogwarts hovered a bit more to his left. "Have you been attacked since leaving Hogwarts then?"

"Well, no, but—"

"Don't you think that's strange, though?" the Cloud interrupted. "That the attacks stopped?"

"No, not really, because I'm staying at Ashmore Manor now." He shrugged. "So, whomever my attackers are, they likely can't penetrate the wards surrounding it."

"And yet when you were outside of my wards just now, you weren't attacked then either."

"They likely hadn't had time to Disapparate here quite yet." That seemed logical to him. After all, they'd have to have some sort of tracker on him first to be able to track his location. So, if there wasn't a tracker on him, it'd likely take his attackers a bit to figure it out.

"Or maybe," the cloud drawled, "no one is after you anymore, hmm?"

"That is—"

"What if I'm not wrong, though, Severus? What if Aurora managed to fix the timeline and repair the damage, and all of that from before has been fixed now? After all, weren't those the questions you wanted to ask? Why you came here in the first place?" He could almost hear the Cloud's amusement again. "To see if I knew about her, about the Fates, about everything."

He couldn't deny it, because it was true. He had come here wanting to know those answers. However, now, he was finding that he wasn't quite certain he wanted them anymore. In fact, he didn't know what he wanted anymore. Finding Aurora was the primary goal, yes, but . . .

"But what if the answers you receive are worse than the not knowing, right?" the Cloud said, finishing his thought for him.

"I care for her."

"Almost as much as he had, yes, I can see that."

"But I don't know her. Not really. I-I just know that when she's around, it feels right. That . . ."

"He gave you hope, Severus. A dangerous weapon for someone like you, someone who has needed it for a long time. It's a stronger force than almost everything in the world. Only love is stronger. And that, oh well, that's a weapon that is almost always fatal in the end."

"Do you know about this Fate's Judgement thing? Anything that could help?"

"I'm aware of its existence, yes, but that's all."

He sighed heavily, running a tired hand over his face.

"But I know how you can get the answer to your question, though, Severus."

"How?"

His eyes narrowed in puzzlement when he watched the colored lights in the cloud brighten almost tenfold before it erupted into a blinding light suddenly. He shielded his eyes almost instantly, wincing as he felt the warmth of the lights. A moment later, though, the bright lights were gone, and the Cloud of Hogwarts was once again lit at its normal strength.

"Hello, Filius," the Cloud stated cordially.

Severus stared dumbfounded as he now noticed that the small Charms professor now stood where the blinding lights initially had been. Had the Cloud brought Filius here? Why?

"Hogwarts," squeaked the Charms professor before his eyes fell onto Severus.

"I think it's long overdue that you ended this, don't you?" the Cloud replied bitingly.

"I can't—"

"Oh, you very well can, Filius Flitwick!"

The man grimaced at the Cloud's tone, as did Severus for that matter.

"Now, end this poor boy's suffering once and for all and tell him the truth. Or you will not remain here any longer, Fate! I am under no obligation to allow your presence here seeing as how Dumbledore is no longer the headmaster. So, end this."

Filius opened his mouth to speak, likely to argue, but closed his mouth a moment later and sighed. He glanced towards Severus.

"It's true then?" the young man asked quietly. "You're truly one of the Fates I saw?"

"I am."

Severus took a step back, his mind reeling. He had taught beside Filius. Hell, he had _been taught_ by Filius! The man was one of the Fates? It was . . . incomprehensible, maddening. He—Filius Flitwick, Head of Ravenclaw, Charms professor—was a Fate?!

"This entire time . . . you . . . you knew?" Severus could hear his voice tremble as he stared at the short wizard. "You knew where she was? You knew about . . . him?" He couldn't find it in himself to say his future self. "About Harrison? About everything?"

"Yes."

"And you said nothing. This entire time, you said nothing."

"There is a statute of secrecy on this, as I'm certain you would assume there'd be. Albus only knew the truth about my being a Fate because he connected the dots. And once he did, he hired me to be the Charms professor."

Severus stared at Filius for a good two seconds before he reacted, his age and inexperience showing itself royally. He clenched his hand tightly into a fist and threw a half-dozen curses towards the older wizard. He didn't care that not a single one had hit the man. He just wanted to hurt him, to show him feel how angry he was right then. To know that a man he had considered a friend, a coworker, had betrayed him, had let him down again.

"Where is she?!" Severus yelled, throwing yet another cutting curse that Filius waved away effortlessly. "Where is Aurora? Answer me!"

Filius said nothing, though, only stared back with sad eyes.

The twenty-two-year-old then drew his wand and slashed the air dangerously, sending his specialized curse at the man. Overhead, he could hear the crackling of his magic. He wanted to hurt him, to kill him. The darkness that he had kept at bay for so long was rooting in the back of his mind again, squirming through and spreading throughout his body like Devil's Snare with a victim caught in its vines. When _Sectumsempra_ did nothing, he opened his mouth to snarl an Unforgivable. He'd get his answers from the man even if Filius had to die as a result. Only the Unforgivable curse died on his lips at the sight of an image reflected in the large suspended crystal next to Filius.

"The light to your darkness? Isn't that what he said to you, Severus?" the Cloud spoke softly beside him. "That she is the light to your darkness?"

His wand clattered to the floor as he stared at the crystal with a trembling breath.

"Do you see now why I want you to end this, Filius? Do you see the tears on that boy's face?" the Cloud stated a moment later as Severus continued staring at the image. "He needs her back."

"It's not as easy as—"

"Look at him, Filius Flitwick. Look at the young man before you whom we all failed. Look at him, and then tell me that you cannot end this. That you cannot do _something_."

Severus closed his eyes then, blocking them out. It had just been an image of Aurora standing somewhere watching him. It shouldn't have affected him as much as it had. And yet it had, which he supposed he should be thankful for as it had stopped him from killing Flitwick.

He breathed in deeply, the strong scent of raspberries and other berries filling his nose.

"It's not so literal, you understand? To be a Master of Death, I mean. It's not like Death will appear one day, bow before you, and ask you what you wish of him like a genie. It's subtler than that. To be a true Master of Death, as we hope you to be, you have to have the strength in your resolve when Death comes and takes friends of yours. You have to have the understanding that you will in time see them again. That their departures are only temporarily. That every life taken, one is restored. Do you understand this, Severus? What is being asked of you? That you will go through life and experience losses just as you had before, but you cannot lash out as you have, curse Death for it. For Death is only doing its job. Just as you will. With great power comes great responsibility."

"I don't want it," Severus declared firmly, opening his eyes. The other Fates he had seen before had joined Filius and the Cloud now. "I don't want power. I don't want any part of it. Not anymore. I lost everything in my quest for power. I lost the woman I had cared for. I lost friends. Family. I lost myself even. I don't want it. You can—tell Death he can have his gifts back. I don't want them."

The four Fates looked to one another and smiled warmly.

"Which is why it must remain with you, Severus," the dryad softly stated. "For when you die, the gifts Death provided to the brothers will no longer have their power on this world. Every person who has had these gifts before you have failed. Oh, they could reunite them just fine. But greeting Death later, they couldn't hide how much they had loved the power they had felt, hide their arrogance. It was Death's curse on them. You've had a taste of power, though, and seen the dangers of that."

He swallowed down his heart and drew in a slow breath. "All of that, though, is a moot point without Aurora in my life." He held their gaze and trembled slightly. Not out of fear, but out of barely holding back his turbulent emotions. "I have been alone my entire life, Fates. Relying only on myself and no one else." He watched the dryad and Filius glance away. "Do you know what happens to a person when he's been by himself for so long? What happens when the isolation takes over? When the loneliness is your only friend? No? _I_ do." The centaur glanced to the vampire then. "I know the feeling of intense suffocation one has when he has no one but himself. I don't ever want to feel that again. I don't ever want to feel like I'm a drowning, and no one, I mean no one, will save me." The vampire stood a bit straighter as he listened. "I have his memories, his words and hers committed to my own memory. I admit I have knowledge I shouldn't have. But to punish her because of this, it's absurd. She was just trying to save me, as she's always done. Do you understand? She asked for your judgment on her because she was trying to save me. Because, for reasons I still haven't fully figured out yet, she cares deeply for me, has for years now. I need her in my life. I need _her_. So, tell me. Tell me what I have to do in order to get her back. To fix this. And to end it once and for all so I can get back to a normal life, the life I should have had if people like you and Dumbledore and Voldemort and all the others hadn't meddled in my life."

The vampire's reddish eyes darted to the centaur, who in turn looked at the dryad female, who looked at Filius.

When none of them spoke, the Cloud did. "I would think the way is clear, Fates. Don't you?"

"It's right," the dryad spoke. "It's the only way to rebalance nature again."

"It would fix things after all," Filius said, turning to look towards the vampire.

"What do you think, Bane?" the vampire asked, looking to the centaur.

The centaur only inclined his head.

"What does that mean? Is Aurora coming back?" Severus glanced at each of them.

"I believe we can just make some tweaks without destabilizing the timeline entirely."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning we can do as she asked; take away the knowledge you shouldn't have and return her."

"All right. What about the people after me, though? After my family?" Severus asked.

"Diana Selwyn was the main driving force behind some of it. You gave her a piece of her niece back. We will leave that alone. Regarding the others who have attacked you, they will have been dealt with already for their transgressions against you." He nodded. "That is not to say that when time restarts again, that you won't be attacked at some point along the way. But that attack, if it occurs, would have nothing to do with your future self playing God this time, though. It would likely be a result of you betraying Voldemort and his ideals instead."

"So, a redo in other words? That's what you're offering?"

"Yes, and in turn, we ask that you remain the Master of Death for us. A fair trade, I believe."

"You get your normal life, and we get a chance to see if you can return Death's gifts."

"Deal?"

"What about Harrison? My parents? Everything that's been changed?" He didn't want to ruin someone's life just so his was better with Aurora back by his side where she belonged.

"There will be tweaks, but it will mostly remain the same as what you've experienced thus far. You won't know the differences, though. We will ensure it, so it doesn't cause any repercussions again."

"Do we have a deal?"

He thought on it. He'd get Aurora back. He'd not have the pain he felt when she was away anymore, but he'd have her back. And he wouldn't know that her favorite flowers were asters. Or that she smelled like raspberries. Or that she couldn't really handle her Absinthe at all. But he would have her back and a chance to get to know her.

But magic, especially this kind, always had a price. And the deal they were offering, it seemed to be too good to be true to him. There had to be something else that they weren't telling him, some other price that would be paid.

It was a risk. There was no doubt about that. If he said yes, he'd have her back, but he'd surely lose something in return. If he said no, he'd never get her back likely.

His future self had given him a boy, entrusted the child with him. His boy. His sweet Harrison. The Fates said that it'd be minor tweaks to the timeline, but what if they were wrong and something happened and Harrison was taken from him? It'd kill him for certain. He had lived without a woman in his life before. But he couldn't go back and abandon the boy now, not when he had fallen for the brat. Harrison deserved a second chance just as much as he had. That wasn't to say that he wanted to live entirely without Aurora either. But a chance to get to know, really get to know her, and fall in love with her the right way? Wasn't that worth at least trying?

"Do we have a deal, Severus?"

He looked towards the Cloud of Hogwarts and slowly closed his eyes.

He was learning how to trust again, and it was getting easier, he'd admit, but he didn't want to be wrong either. He wanted Aurora back. Aurora and his family . . .

"Severus, do we have a deal or not?" the dryad repeated. "We need an answer."

"Yes," he murmured a moment later, wondering if he had just damned himself to hell again.

The Fates clapped their hands. "She has already returned." Everything then faded to black for him.


	16. Out of the Frying Pan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many, many thanks goes to Snapeswidow for assisting me with this chapter. There is a very valuable lesson that will be learned in this chapter. :) As with the previous chapter, if something seems awkward or just plain doesn't make sense, I apologize as I missed it during the editing portion of this chapter. Once again, enjoy. :)

When Severus awoke much later, it was to the sounds of birds chirping nearby. He groaned quietly and turned his head, slowly waking up. He grimaced when he saw the bright sunlight outside the window. It had to be nearly noon by how much sun was in Harrison's rooms in Ashmore Manor.

Soft giggles then caught his attention. He turned towards the giggling little boy who was nuzzled against him.

"Hi, Dada." Harrison's brilliant green eyes glistened in the sunlight.

"Brat," Severus simply replied, raising an eyebrow at the mischievous boy. There was only one reason the boy would be smiling that widely and giggling like that. "What did you do?"

"Potty," Harrison said, still grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Severus's eyes widened before he sat up suddenly. What did the boy mean by 'Potty?' His eyes darted about the room, looking for signs of said 'Potty'. Finding none, though, he looked down at Harrison. The boy wasn't squirming, so he didn't have to go. Which meant his fear was likely a sound one, and somewhere the boy had gone without supervision.

"Show me." He swung his legs off the side of the bed and held Harrison's hands to follow the boy. He felt a bit better when they headed towards the bathroom. That was until he saw the mess.

"See? I go potty!" Harrison squealed pointing towards the toilet.

"So I see," Severus replied, forcing himself not to wince at the toilet paper that had been spread all over the floor and the water sprayed every which way from when the boy had likely washed his hands afterwards. He leaned forward and flushed the toilet before he turned back to Harrison who was so proud of himself. "Good attempt, brat. How about we clean up this mess in here, hmm? Before Grandmum Eileen throws a fit." He was thankful to see that Harrison was still happy and obvious to the fact that it'd have been a better try in Severus's mind if the boy hadn't redecorated the bathroom after successfully going to the bathroom by himself for the first time.

Once everything was right again, Severus picked Harrison up, closing his eyes briefly when his little boy's arms wrapped around him lovingly. He wouldn't exchange this life for anything.

"Let's go get some breakfast, yeah?"

Harrison nodded with a wide grin before he rested his head against his father's shoulder. Together, the two headed to the door with Severus undoing his spell from last night. He couldn't recall how he had arrived back in Harrison's room after speaking with the Fates, but he didn't care either really. Honestly, he couldn't recall feeling as well rested as he did right then. It was as if a very large weight had been taken off his shoulders somehow, leaving him with just the sweet boy he loved.

"Oh-ho . . . look who's finally joining us. The Master of Darkness himself," Demetri drawled with a large grin on her face. "It is the Master of Darkness, right, or was it Master of Death? I always forget which it is." She stuck her tongue out at him when he glared at her.

"What are you doing here anyway?" he asked a moment later, tipping his head to his dad when Tobias grabbed Harrison from his arms. "Weren't you going back to the castle?" He had thought she had said that sometime recently. All his days were blurring together, though.

"Well, you know, I thought you might like to know that they caught the rogue Ministry officials after you this morning," she said with a nonchalant shrug. "But if you'd rather hide out here the rest of your days . . ."

"They caught them?"

Impossible. They had been stuck at the manor for almost a month now with no end in sight. Every single time any one of them had tried to leave, in fact, they had encountered one of the rogue Ministry fiends. He shook his head, though. They were free? His eyes then narrowed.

"How?" he asked, searching Demetri's face. How did she know this? He hadn't heard owls.

"Well, you see, there's this witch. You might know her. She's kind of in love with you. It's pathetic really," Demetri replied with another shrug, as she held his eyes with an amused look. "She doesn't take no for an answer, especially when it comes to you. So, knowing that you had these idiots after you and that the timeline was destabilizing, she did what any woman would do for the man she loves. She took matters into her own hands and, well, threw out the old rule book, calling on the Fates. Then when she returned, well, the way I heard it we should have all been there to hear her dressing down Dumbledore. It was epic."

He was even more confused now. Aurora had returned after the Fates' Judgment and scolded Dumbledore first thing after reappearing? She hadn't come to see him? Furthermore, what the hell did any of this have to do with the rogue Ministry officials being defeated?

"She managed to get him to agree that he owed you, etc, etc, so he and his merry band of misfits took the battle to the Ministry. Which they should have done weeks ago honestly. Let me tell you, though. The Minister of Magic is in some serious hot water now."

"The Minister?" She wasn't making any sense.

"Yeah. You see, the reason the Ministry was after you in the first place, I guess, is because someone filing away birth certificates noticed something in your file when they were adding Harrison's. I don't know. It didn't really make that much sense to me when I heard it from Minerva. But long story short, they noticed something in there and took it to their superior. Well, their superior must have known something about whatever they found because they took it to the Minister. Something about national security according to Dumbledore and how you were a threat. All because they realized that you are a descendant to the long-dead Ashmore family, which of course was revealed, like, weeks ago in the _Prophet_ , but you know bureaucrats. They never do get their heads of their asses if even for a moment. It seems they decided to go after you to hide the truth about their kickbacks from the Ashmores. I mean, we already know the whole reason Diana went after you. Master of Death and all that nonsense. I don't know how, but Aurora was the one who figured this out, I guess."

There it was. Time itself had been stopped from unraveling at the seams and setting into motion a cataclysmic Armageddon his way thanks to the Fates. However, he couldn't stop himself from feeling slightly hurt that Aurora hadn't come back to the manor directly after the Fates had returned her.

"So, that brings me back to the question at hand . . ." Demetri declared loudly, pulling him back from his thoughts suddenly. "Are you coming back?"

"Back?" he repeated, staring at her.

"Yeah, to Hogwarts. You know, the pretty castle overlooking a lake. A castle full of idiot kids we have to make sure don't kill one another accidently every single day of our life. Remember?"

"Oh."

"Ah crap. You don't want to come back now, do you? I told her this was going to happen."

"What?" She told whom? Aurora? Had Demetri spoken with her?

"I mean, don't get me wrong. I get it. You want to stay close to your family, but, well, Hogwarts needs you, Severus."

He stared at Demetri for a few moments before he started chuckling.

"Hogwarts needs me? You sound so absurd, Demetri. The castle is better off without a grump like me, I assure you."

"No. I'm telling you. Minerva's said the castle has been very moody since we left."

"It's not a sentient being," he replied with a scoff. "What you're seeing is nothing more than discordant magic. That's it." Unless they were talking about the Cloud of Hogwarts, but he still wasn't quite certain he hadn't dreamt that part last night or not.

"Fine. Then explain this, smarty-pants. The staircases the other day decided not to let Filius on it. In fact, every time he tried, it moved. He almost died, Severus. So, if the castle isn't sentient, then . . . who caused the staircase to move it?"

"It was likely some student's spell."

"I'm sorry. Did you not hear me? Filius Flitwick, the Charms professor, Severus, this wasn't no idiot this happened to. When Minerva and the others inspected it, they didn't find any magical trace on it. So . . . how about that, Mr. Know-It-All? Explain that."

He stared at her for a minute before he replied, "Excuse me? Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Well, if the dragon-hide boots fit . . ."

Snickers could be heard all around them.

"Obviously," Severus started, rolling his eyes at Demetri's juvenile antics, "all of them missed something, which judging by that group of misfits, wouldn't be hard to do. The castle is infused with magic, yes, but not sentient. So, it had to have been a spell."

"Okay, but tell me, does a spell then decide later to set fire to Filius's rooms? I mean, I could be wrong, but I always got the impression that he, you know, liked Sprout? And seeing as how, she isn't wanting to murder him or anything while he sleeps, and, making an assumption here, he doesn't hold classes in his rooms or anything, how would a student know where he sleeps?"

"It's likely a bad luck charm or something."

"Did you miss the part when I said it was Filius, Severus?"

"No, but . . ."

"That does sound rather odd," Severus heard his mother remark behind him. "The castle would be a more likely answer actually."

"Oh please, not you too, Mother," exclaimed the young man. "Hogwarts is not sentient. It's a goddamn castle for Merlin's sake."

"I don't know, son," Tobias said with a shrug. "Someone killed that git after ya before we came here, and no one else was down there at the time. Maybe, ya know, it is."

"I'm surrounded by idiots," Severus mumbled, shaking his head. "Fine. For the sake of argument, say the castle is sentient, why would it attack Filius?"

"I don't know."

"Exactly. Filius Flitwick is a good wizard, a bit of a pushover in terms of a teacher, but a good man ultimately. So, there is zero reason for the castle, if it even was the castle, to go after him."

"Fine. But are you coming back at least?"

Return to Hogwarts? He turned to look at Harrison, who was staring back at him as he messily ate his cookie. If Severus returned, then he'd see his son less, having to teach brats who couldn't appreciate anything in their lives. But if he didn't return, then he'd have to figure out how to make a living so his son had food, clothes, a roof over his head. Sighing, he shrugged.

"I don't know, Demetri."

He had applied for a teaching position at Hogwarts at the request of the Dark Lord and secretly Dumbledore. While Dumbledore had denied his initial request for being the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, he had allowed Severus to take Slughorn's old position and become Slytherin's Head of House too. The teaching he had done had been relaxing somewhat somewhat, if he had to be honest. Or maybe it was just knowing that he had a roof over his head and three meals a day with a bit of money to focus on his brewing hobby.

"Well, would it help you to know that I'm stepping down as Astronomy Mistress effective immediately and a certain curly-haired witch has already agreed to take her rightful place at Hogwarts?"

His head snapped to Demetri.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Aurora's coming back?" He stared at Demetri, barely breathing.

"Oh, dear Merlin," his mother exclaimed behind him. "She's not the one for you, Severus. How many times do I have to say it? Demetri on the other hand . . ."

"El."

"What? Demetri has been here every single day, Severus, which is more than can be said about the other one who called upon the Fate's to fix something that wasn't broken to begin with."

Demetri laughed, rolling her eyes. "That's because Aurora's been a little busy after returning, Eileen. She's been on a mission for Albus. One that finally has ended thankfully."

"A mission for Albus?" Severus frowned. She had been gone for almost three weeks. "What mission? What was she doing for him?"

Demetri shrugged. "No idea. It's all hush-hush. But I'm sure if you bat your pretty little eyes at her at dinner tonight, Severus, . . ."

"Dinner?"

"Yeah, you know, the meal you have at night." She grinned. "I may have told her I was bringing a friend along. So, you might have to explain that one to her, but you know. C'est la vie."

"I, um . . ." The young wizard winced slightly and tugged on his collar. Was the room spinning or was it just him? And why the hell had it gotten so hot all of a sudden? Dinner tonight with Aurora? No. No that was a sure recipe for disaster.

"Oh, no you don't, Snape." Demetri grabbed his arm. "You are not wiggling your skinny ass out of this one this time. You have been telling me since we got over McGonagall's weird crapshoot of a trust exercise that you care for her, that she's the one. So, you are going."

"I can't." He'd ruin it. The odds of a date going well were, no, no he couldn't do this. He'd just watch from afar. Be a jealous git when she went out on dates with guys who didn't deserve her. Hex them later and make it known that she was his witch. But to talk to her, see her . . . after everything . . .

"Why the hell not? You care for her. She freaking loves you to death that it's almost obnoxious for the rest of us to hear! What's the problem here?" Demetri then pointed at Harrison. "That you have a kid? Oh, please! You know she'll love Harrison, consider him hers the moment you kiss the shit out of her, hear your dulcet proclamation of love to her. So, come on. Be brave, Severus. Be brave and go after the witch you care for!"

"Or don't," Eileen chimed in. "And wait for a witch who actually is there for you always. You know, like, Demetri here. Such a nice girl, isn't she, Severus?"

"By the Gods, Eileen, will you give it a rest already! Nothing is ever going to happen between Severus and me no matter how much we want it to—you—how much _you_ want it to." Demetri stared straight ahead as the silence took over for a brief moment, looking as calm as could be.

Severus, however, caught her slip. How much _they_ wanted to? He moved to step closer to Demetri, but stopped when he caught her glare directed at his movement.

"Ah-ha! I knew it!"

"El, no," Tobias warned, grabbing his wife's wrist. "Let's give the kids the room, yeah?"

"There's no need," Demetri replied, forcing her polite smile. "I was just leaving." She then met Severus's eyes again. "If you decide to stop brooding later and want to join us, we'll be at the Hog's Head around seven." She didn't wait for his reply before she left, walking out the nearest door.

"That girl loves you, Severus, and she's here right now," Eileen started the moment Demetri had left. "So, how about you stop with this never-ending Evans's routine you're stuck on and ask the pretty girl who has been by your side instead of—"

He turned to his mother and frowned deeply. "Because that isn't fair to Demetri, Mother. I don't like her like that, and she knows it. I consider her a friend. That's it. Now, maybe if you'd stop being a complete bitch and constantly throwing that in her face, she wouldn't have had to leave just now."

"Excuse me?"

He glanced to his father, though, who was brushing the cookie crumbs off Harrison.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Mother, I'm going to go fix your mistake. Again."

"Happy fixing, son," Tobias called out, as Severus left.

* * *

Severus followed Demetri out of the manor. It didn't take long for him to catch up to her, as he met her just a little way down the road near the gates. He frowned when he saw all the reporters gathered on the other side of the gates now and threw up a privacy spell in front of both of them, so the reporters couldn't see them.

"Thanks," Demetri spared a glance at Severus before walking faster. "If you've come to tell me how much of an idiot I am, save it. I know."

"I wasn't going to say that at all," he replied quietly. "I was actually going to apologize for my mother. And ask if you'd like to join me in plotting her demise?"

Demetri stopped and turned to face him. "You shouldn't have to apologize for her, and either way I'd feel guilty depriving Harrison of a grandmother."

"He'd have a castle full of grandmothers. Let's be honest. Just like he'd have a really fun aunt from America."

"This is true." She sighed, running a hand through her curls. "But I'd still feel guilty for her paying the price for a fantasy of mine that she just happens to share."

"Fantasy?" He snorted. "You clearly do not know me, Demetri. Nothing about me screams that."

"I beg to differ. You have that whole tall, dark, and mysterious thing going for you that the writers of those trashy romance novels are always going on about. Not to mention I've spent how long watching you do everything in your power to get the woman you love?" She threw her hands up in the air. "Do you know how many women would kill to be in Aurora's place? To have someone that loves her that much?"

He winced, rubbing the back of his neck. "I don't love her, Demetri." At least he didn't think so.

"Bullshit!"

"How can I love a person I hardly know? I mean, all of this could be because of his stupid letter. That he says I marry her, and... I don't know her. Not really. I mean, I've met her mother a few times. But I don't know her. I just—I have my idea of her. My fantasy of her."

"And what is this fantasy?"

He kicked the dirt, sticking his hands into his pockets. "It's stupid, Demetri."

"Not as stupid as mine"

He glanced at her and snorted, noticing that they were now headed towards the lifeless gardens.

"We're laughing about something. I don't know what. I can never figure it out. But we're laughing, genuinely happy. I'm brewing something at the time. She's watching me work, telling me that she's almost jealous of a cauldron of all things. And then I hear Harrison in the background and she..." He inhaled sharply. "She's telling him how proud we are of him for his making the Quidditch team. And how she needs his help to get me away from the cauldron. That we'll go out to dinner to celebrate. As a family." He sighed. "And as we leave, she kisses my cheek and reaches for my hand. I... I don't know how to describe it. Warmth. Goodness. A deep feeling of it being right. Happiness even. That no matter what darkness we face, as long as we face it together, we'll be all right."

"Sounds like love to me, Severus.

"No. It's the idea of love that I'm in love with. I don't know her, Demetri. I mean, I act like a complete idiot around her."

"And you can't help but watch her, even if it's something as simple as walking into a room. You associate a certain smell with her and when you find a piece of information or hear a joke you'd think she'd like, you commit it to memory so you can tell her the next time you see her."

He kicked the dirt again, his voice lowering. "I haven't seen her since she cast that spell, asked for the Fates to intervene." He sighed again.

"Well, she's back now. So you have a chance to sit down with her and tell her how you feel without her having to run off and fix the world this time. And I mean tell her, Severus."

He shook his head. "Regardless, we were talking about you anyway."

"I know." Demetri shrugged. "I thought I'd try your favorite tactic, deflection."

"What does that mean?"

"You have the uncanny ability to side step or deflect a question or situation you don't want to deal with. I figured if I flipped this conversation onto you, we wouldn't have to talk about me."

"Well, we talked. Now it's your turn."

"What do you want me to say? That I'm an idiot who fell in love with someone who was in love with another woman? That a part of me secretly hoped Aurora wouldn't come back and you and I could become more than friends?"

"You're not an idiot."

"I have a portrait in my rooms that will tell you otherwise."

"If you listen to portraits of dead ancestors, then clearly I'm mistaken."

Demetri crossed her arms over her chest. "And you think you know me better than my own family?"

"I do, because I'm a Legilimens." He smirked.

"Smart ass." She narrowed her eyes then. "Wait. Have you been inside my head?"

He paused for a minute before shaking his head. "No. I respect you enough not to invade your mind. Not to mention, I can imagine what sorts of things are going through your wicked mind."

"Oh no. You're not getting off that easily. You said you know me better than I know myself. You have peeked haven't you, you pervert?"

"Hardly. I've seen enough bodice ripper fantasizes from enough women over the years."

"Ha. You are a pervert. Did you learn a few tips and tricks? Care to share a few."

"You should have been an Auror. Deflections appear to be your specialty."

"What can I say, I have a great teacher."

"Deflections."

"You really want me to say it, don't you?"

"I would have thought you trusted me enough by now seeing as how I thought we were friends."

"Going for the old pureblood guilt tactic now?" She sighed and again ran a hand through her hair, tugging at the ends. "At first, I thought it was just jealousy. You have a family that honestly cares for each other, no matter how much you fight with each other. My father was always leery of me, being the first female born to the family since Morgana. He believed I was doomed to repeat her history. He was very adamant about me taking the job at Hogwarts. It was almost to the point that I swear he was just trying to get rid of me. That jealousy then became something else though the more I spent time with you. I thought it was just the idea of having someone like you love me and fight for me the way you do Aurora that I loved, but when she disappeared and that little voice in my head began to hope she didn't come back, I knew I was screwed. No, actually, it was when I found the potions lab in the manor and caught the scent of Harrison's shampoo mixed in with some other herbs—sandalwood too maybe—that I realized it was a bottle of Amortentia that I really knew. I've never been able to smell anything specific with that potion other than faint traces of the ingredients that go into it and thought it was a fluke, so I brewed it again—twice at over the past few weeks—and both times I smelled well, you." She shrugged and stopped talking, as she looked out over the gardens avoiding looking at him.

He listened to her as she spoke, resisting the urge to interrupt her several times. She had smelled him? Since when had his life become so damn complicated? Two witches now had fallen for him. Him, the greasy git of the dungeons who made children cry for the hell of it because he could. He couldn't understand it. He really couldn't. Had everyone been dosed with some new love potion around him? It was the only logical explanation. When she finished, he sighed silently. "It's the dark wizard thing, isn't it? That all of you find so damn attractive in me? Because I assure you, I am hardly one who ties women up or has his way with them. It's quite the opposite really."

"You forget I've seen under that 'dark wizard' mask you put on for the world, Severus. Whose rooms did you come to with worry over Sin? Mine. I've also witnessed the way a certain little boy has you wrapped around his finger. That is what attracts me to you." She smirked then, "And I wouldn't mind being tied to a bed, though. It's be a first and could be fun."

"I'm not a kind person, though. Not truly. I have . . . numerous flaws. You're only seeing what you want to see, Demetri."

"Everyone has flaws. It's what makes us human."

He scoffed. "I'm not talking about I leave the toilet seat up, Demetri." He shook his head. "You wouldn't understand."

"I know about your past and what that tattoo you have means. I know what comes with it as well. We all have regrets and demons we must live with, but you got a second chance. You got a do over."

"It's not that. It's not my joining the Death Eaters that I'm referring to. It's—there's a darkness in me, Demetri. A darkness that I hide deep under the furthest depths of my mind. It bubbles under the surface in times of anger, held back by a tether some days. Aurora's seen it before when . . ."

"Is that what's holding you back from admitting your feelings to her?"

He shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. I lost my temper with her that day. We were—I ended up hurting her. You remember it. You were there. I hadn't meant to, but I did. She stayed away after it for a bit. I had thought she knew something, but she—I was wrong. And—I hurt her, Demetri. I could have killed her, you know?"

"She doesn't see you as the kind of monster you think she does."

"You haven't seen the monster that's underneath, so it's easy for you to say that. I don't see what any of you see." He closed his eyes. "I become possessive, jealous, to the point of madness. That's how it was before at least. And even now, I can feel it underneath my skin. Not knowing." He stopped and turned away. "I should go."

Demetri grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. "Don't leave."

He glanced down at her hand on his arm before he glanced back up at her. "You both deserve better. A man who isn't so broken, so lost, so...me."

"And what do you deserve? To be alone? To live a life of what ifs? You push people away under the guise of keeping them from getting hurt when in the end your hurting yourself."

"At least I can't hurt anyone else then. I can handle it. That's why I'm the goddamn Master of Death after all."

"You act like that's synonymous to being Darth Vader."

He blinked and stared at her for half a moment. She knew _Star Wars?_

Demetri raised an eyebrow. "You do dress like him, though."

"What's wrong with black?"

"Nothing. It adds to that, what did you call it, the dark wizard thing that has us witches wanting to be tied to a bed."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "You're mad."

"We're all a little mad. Life would be boring otherwise.

He opened his mouth to speak before he shook his head instead.

Demetri grinned. "I've rendered him speechless, ladies and gentlemen."

"I stand by my words. You're mad. Certifiably so." He headed back towards the manor.

"But you love me anyway," she replied before catching up to him. "Come have a drink with me. I think we both could use one after that conversation."

A drink would perhaps calm his nerves. He sighed heavily.

"So, is that a yes?"

"To a drink?"

"No to tying me to a bed." She rolled her eyes. "Yes to a drink."

"I suppose."

Demetri shook her head but linked her arm in his. "I'm buying the first round," she replied before Disapparating them both to the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade.

"First round?" He raised a brow at her as soon as they appeared in the dusty deserted pub. "What makes you think I'm going to drink more than one?" He glanced around out of habit, relaxing when he saw that it was the usual crowd. No Aurors thankfully.

"You'd let me drink alone?" she asked, smirking.

"Yes. Because I'm a bastard, remember?"

"I was joking, Severus." She sighed as she walked over to the bar and ordered them both a drink.

"As was I," he mumbled under his breath as he went to find them a quiet place away from the others that had gathered, few that there were.

Demetri brought the drinks over to the table, placing his in front of him before taking a seat.

He held up the glass, swirling the liquid for a moment.

"Cheers," Demetri said as she threw back the first of her two shots of Firewhiskey.

He inclined his head, tossing back his shot. As the liquid ran down his throat, he grimaced, feeling the familiar burn. Drinking his fears away would only lead to disaster he knew. It always had. The night he had taken the Mark he'd enjoyed too much in the festivities, the supposed joyous occasion, to understand what was happening around him. The deaths and the blood that had been split. All he could recall about that night was being dropped back off at Hogwarts, sicking up as he recalled the bloody mess of his sacrifice to the Dark Lord.

His second time drinking was even worse. He had sent a drunken tear-filled letter to Evans. It seemed either she didn't receive it or didn't even attempt to read it, though. But he knew he had written it. How he had begged for her forgiveness. Her love.

Would he make the same mistakes again with Aurora, he wondered? He had married her supposedly, so maybe she didn't mind his . . . darkness, his possessiveness, his inner demons.

He looked across the table at Demetri. His first friend since Lily and Aurora. Though, Aurora was different, one who didn't take no for an answer—who didn't make him work so hard at being her friend. In fact, it was more like she had forced him into their friendship when they were younger, like a parasite with its host.

He chuckled quietly. What a way to compare his future wife to a parasite of all things. He was doomed. She'd kill him before dawn.

Demetri raised an eyebrow at his chuckling but didn't comment as she drank her second shot.

"You realize you don't need alcohol to escape this, right? That we're still friends? And nothing has changed?" He gave her a soft smirk when she turned towards him. "Even if you do believe that I'm a sex god in bed."

She nearly choked on the shot at his words. "I am not trying to escape anything but your mother's incessant nagging at the moment. And I don't stomp on your fantasy, so leave mine be."

"So, do what I do. Think of her as Charlie Brown's teacher. It's quite amusing sometimes. Wha wa wha wa," he mimicked.

Demetri laughed. "I may have to try that someday, but if I get hexed for laughing, I'm hexing you in return."

"There's always the option of making a game out of it then. I'd say a drinking game, but you'd likely die of alcohol poisoning or England would surely run out of alcohol otherwise."

"England would definitely run out of alcohol before I ever got alcohol poisoning."

He snorted before he glanced up at a nearby clock. 6:55. The drink hadn't calmed his nerves at all judging by the fresh wave of panic that followed. He drew in a breath and closed his eyes briefly. This would go badly. It was for certain really.

She placed a hand over his and squeezed. "Stop worrying."

He glanced down at her hand before he yanked his hand back when the door to the pub opened. He turned around to look at who had walked in, only to sigh when it was some scruffy wizard.

"I'll be back," he said quietly. "Try not to drink everything in sight, will you?" He glanced back up at the clock, frowning when he saw that it was now past seven. Aurora was late.

"Take too long and I just might," she quipped before she ordered another round of drinks.

He held his finger up and headed to the lavatory.

"Is that a promise?" Demetri called out to his retreating back.

He ignored her, though, slipping inside.

"Is what a promise?" an amused voice spoke suddenly near Demetri. "Oh, Dem. Starting without me already?"

"You're late," Demetri replied, "and I wasn't going to let it just sit there." She glanced at her long-time friend, narrowing her eyes on her at how dirty Aurora looked right then. Had the woman done battle with a dragon? Or had she been a victim of a sneezing troll?

"Blame Albus. He needed to know every little detail. Git didn't even let me freshen up. As you can see." She waved a hand down herself with a sigh. "I'm covered in all sorts of muck that I really don't even want to consider what it is. And the freshening charms aren't really helping. I'll be right back. You'll be all right if I left you alone, right? You won't get into any barfights, needing me to bail you out again?" Aurora teased before she squeezed Demetri's shoulder.

"I didn't start that fight, and you know it."

"Yeah, sure you didn't, Dem. I'll be right back, and then you can tell me all about this mysterious friend of yours."

"I will be fine here, now go before you draw flies."

"If anyone's drawing flies, it's you," Aurora called over her shoulder before she slipped inside the bathroom opposite of the one Severus had entered.

A few moments later, Severus returned, snorting when he saw another set of drinks on the table. "Your second . . . or do you just have the bottle stashed somewhere now?"

"I have half a bar stashed upon my person in case of an emergency if you must know."

He chuckled and inhaled, pausing and narrowing his eyes as he caught a faint smell. "Why does it smell like you wrestled a troll, Demetri?"

She raised an eyebrow. "That smell is not me, you ass. It was Sin. Something about cleaning up a mess and not having time to change. She went into the ladies' room after you left."

He made a faint noise before he sat down, placing a hand on the table. "Oh."

Demetri sighed again before sliding a shot across the table. "You're acting like you about to be executed."

"I might be. It's at least a more humane way," he mumbled.

"I'll make you a deal. For every melancholy comment you make, for every 'woe is me' remark, you drink a shot of my choice. If you can rein in the pity party enough to get through this meal, I'll do something of your choosing."

He frowned. "Fine."

She grinned and slid two shots across the table. "One for you last comment and another to turn that frown upside down."

Groaning, he grabbed the drink and tossed it back. He would have to be more careful, lest end up drunk in the gutter. He grabbed the other one and downed that as well. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic." She laughed as she took a drink herself. Getting him drunk again would make dinner very interesting, but more importantly it'd help him when Aurora finally did join them.

He drummed his fingers on the table a moment later. He normally could keep his emotions in check, but... It had to be the Firewhiskey. "How—how did she seem?"

"Good. She seemed like her old self. With the exception of her smelling like a full cauldron left out to rot."

"Lovely." He forced a grin, wondering if he should leave already.

Demetri narrowed her eyes as she picked up a shot. "Since I can't tell if that's a real smile or a grimace, I'll let it slide." She drank the shot herself.

He chuckled.

Demetri rolled her eyes at him before glancing at the clock on the wall, wondering what was taking Aurora so damned long in the ladies' room. Bored with just drinking, Demetri went to the bar and came back with an empty glass and one filled with Absinthe from the bar. "Okay, Master Vader, let's see if you can use the force and your vast knowledge of Potions to see if you can name at least five of the herbs used in this wonderful concoction."

"Master Vader?" He shook his head before he grabbed the shot and smelled it. "Peppermint."

"That's one. Five points to Slytherin."

He swirled the liquid some more. It was strong whatever it was. He then glanced at the bar. She hadn't said how he had to identify after all. He stood up and walked over to the bar. The bottle was still up on the bar as Aberforth had gone into the back for something. He should have known. Grinning, he turned around, reading aloud from the bottle, "Green anise, Florence fennel, hyssop, Melissa, star anise, angelica, coriander, and veronica."

"You smart ass." She laughed before grinning back and taking a flask from the pockets of her robes and filling the other empty glass with her own brewed Absinthe. Hers still had the thujone in it that was toxic to Muggles in large doses and removed from commercially sold Absinthe, but seeing as how it was basically straight wormwood that was found in most potions, it wasn't toxic to magical folks. It did, however, make the drink twice as potent as the stuff in the bottle Severus just read the label of. "Now see if you can guess what changes I made to mine. And this time you have to drink it." He'd had it before she knew, but it was just so much fun seeing his reaction to it that she couldn't help it.

He snorted. "As you wish." He took a drink and half-gagged and half-coughed. Damn, it burned more than it had last time she had offered him a drink!

She laughed again, pouring a shot from her flask into her glass and downing it without so much of a reaction. "Well?"

"I'll stick to my elf-wine thank you. It doesn't feel like I'm dying from a lethal snake bite."

Demetri laughed. He hadn't answered, but she'd let it slide for now. "You'd think growing up in a family-run Apothecary business, I'd find better uses for wormwood. Wouldn't you?" She took another sip from her glass and shrugged. "My father was furious when he got an owl from my Potions professor about my extracurricular brewing activities."

"A waste of it in my opinion, but to each their own, I suppose," he stated with a shrug. "Especially if someone's wanting to die a slow and painful death... or beg for one." He smirked at her before he glanced towards the closed door to the ladies' room. He groaned quietly as he did this, though, feeling a bit out of sorts. Then again, he rarely drank as much as he was now.

"I never beg, Severus." She arched an eyebrow at his groan and followed his gaze.

"I'll keep that in mind," he replied, turning back to her. He laid his hand down flat atop of the table to keep the room from spinning.

"Will you now?" She smirked.

He stared at her for a moment before he snorted. "Do you truly want to go down this path, Demetri? Because perhaps you forgot who I am, _what_ I am." He leaned towards her, smirking slightly. "I know how to bewitch the mind, ensnare the senses, penetrate the deepest depths . . ." He grabbed her last shot. "Or not." He tossed it back, closing his eyes and shaking his head at it. A part of him wondered what the hell he was doing exactly, but another part knew he needed just a bit more liquid courage.

With a flick of her wand, she summoned the bottle of whiskey from behind the bar and refilled the glass still in his hand before taking it and downing the shot. She leaned across the table to whisper in his ear. "I will travel down any path you lay before me. I know who and what you are, and it doesn't scare me, just adds to what attracts me to you."

At the sound of a door opening in the distance, he loudly announced, meeting Demetri's eyes, "Aurora! How wonderful it is for you to join us. Demetri here was just telling me how she'd travel any path I lay before her and how it just attracts her more to me." He couldn't be certain if it was Aurora or not who had walked out, but he really didn't care at this point. He was not going to back down from this fight with her. Not now.

She raised an eyebrow and met his gaze in challenge. "Our dear friend here needs to learn that he shouldn't challenge a Le Fay. We don't back down," she replied just as loud with a smirk of her own.

"Go down or back down? Because I assure you that I could make you do both, Le Fay."

"Is that a promise?" She flicked her gaze to his lap before returning to his face.

A soft laugh then filtered above them. "Well, glad to see that you two are getting along so _perfectly_." The last word was almost spat out. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go get a bottle of something that's not goblin piss."

Demetri poured herself and Severus another shot, knowing that he needed it, and watched her friend walk over to the bar. She'd have to explain to the witch that she was only flirting with Severus to get a rise out of him. She knew he'd never act on his words, not with her anyway, no matter how much she meant her own words.

Severus didn't touch the shot right away. Instead, he watched Aurora's retreating figure head to the bar and ask Aberforth for something. He closed his eyes, just barely resisting the urge to hit his forehead. He was only joking with Demetri. He hadn't mean for Aurora to walk in on that. He shook his head a moment later and threw back his shot, swallowing the bitter liquid that numbed him even more.

Aurora returned a moment later with a bottle of a clear liquid. She had torn off the label, so they couldn't see what it was. She raised the slender blue bottle to them.

"To my best friend and the bastard of the dungeons," she saluted them both before taking a swig. "Go on. Don't let me stop you after all."

Demetri drank her shot before glancing at the bottle Aurora had brought to the table. "What in the world are you drinking?"

"Sunshine, Demetri. Sunshine."

"What in the Nine Hells is sunshine?" She looked at Severus with a questioning look. Was it some new drink or something? "Wait. Do you mean Moonshine?"

Aurora rolled her eyes. "If it was moonshine, I'd have replied that it was moonshine, my dearest friend. But seeing as how I didn't, it's not." She then glanced at Severus who was staring at her. "Oh, don't look at me like that. I can smell the Absinthe on both of your breaths." She turned back to her. "Three weeks I'm gone, and you're already corrupting him with your wormwood nightmare, I see."

"I'm not corrupting anyone. It was an experiment purely to test his ability as a potions master to identify what was in it, which he cheated at, the ass." She poured herself a shot of the green drink. "I don't remember you complaining about me corrupting you with it when we were in university."

"University was a long time ago," Aurora replied flatly, her eyes staring out a nearby window. "So, with the Aurors out of the way, you'll be back at the castle with Harrison in no time. Teaching again, making Hufflepuffs cry. You know, the usual." She smiled softly, turning to Severus. "That is, if Dem doesn't end up getting you so drunk you end up in Minerva's bed . . . or worse." She laughed softly, the smile not quite reaching her eyes again.

"I am not that bad of an influence, Aurora"

"I believe I know a professor who would disagree, seeing as how you spiked his coffee once."

"Because you dared me to!"

Aurora snorted before she turned to Severus. "Yeah, because that really sounds like me, doesn't it?" She smiled at him. "Are you all right? You look—I don't know what, but that." Something then seemed to cross her mind before she nodded slowly. "Yeah. I guess I deserve the cold shoulder for leaving you like that, but I had to do something."

"Why?" he asked softly.

"What do you mean, why? You know why. And you'd have done the same if you had to be in the snake pit as long as I was. But that's over with now. Over and done. So, anyways," Aurora announced, clapping her hands together, "tell me about you two. What have you been up to lately? Other than flirting with one another, I mean?"

"Is that what crawled up your ass, Sin?" Demetri sighed before taking another drink. "It was harmless flirting. Severus would never act on my challenges and innuendos."

"Up my arse?" Aurora snorted derisively. "You're both adults. What do I care what you two do together? I mean, hell, Severus and I aren't even together. Nor will we ever. He's too interested in his potions, and I'm too—what was that you called me my sixth year—right before Holidays, remember?" she asked him before laughing again.

He stared at her, trying to recall the encounter she was referring to. But he couldn't. All he could remember was seeing Evans slip out of the girl's lavatory, bleeding. Her words then echoed in his head. _Nor will we ever._ The doubt was slipping back in again. She had been the one to leave, not him!

"Oh, that's right. I'm too much of a hopeless, idiotic romantic with foolish fantasies that even the worst romance novel wouldn't even touch," Aurora stated coldly. "Not to mention, a lady is supposed to be of grace and beauty, and I'm neither." She smiled thinly. "He thought he was Prince Charming, obviously," she joked.

"Who's Prince charming? Not Severus here. He more like Darth Vader then Prince Charming."

Aurora blinked. "What? Who's that?"

"This evil dude from a Muggle movie that goes around in head to toe black and thinks he's the biggest bad ass in the Universe "

"Oh. I suppose." She placed the half-empty bottle back down on the table. "Sounds like him at least."

"See. Even she thinks your Darth Vader, and she hasn't even seen the movie." Demetri laughed before taking another drink.

"Vader had two children, though. I only have the one, though," Severus pointed out.

Aurora laughed. "Well, the way I hear it, Harrison was a bit of a surprise to you. A gift of course, but you could have another out there."

Demetri raised an eyebrow. "Damn, Severus. And here I thought you wouldn't know what to do with it if it was handed to you."

He glanced at both of them, not certain how to react to their words. Their words were lighthearted. At least their tone was. And he didn't feel any anger directed at him, any contempt. Just them joking with one another. He blindly reached for his shot then, grabbing Demetri's instead.

Demetri went to grab her shot back but kept her mouth shut and poured herself another of her Absinthe. He'd learn soon enough.

The minute he tasted the Absinthe, he coughed again but forced himself to swallow. That was not—not Firewhiskey. He shuddered, grabbing his shot of Firewhiskey to wash it down. He then chuckled as a thought occurred to him, albeit a really poor judgement thought brought on by drinking.

"Serves you right for stealing a woman's drink," Demetri bristled.

He brushed her off, though. "Did Demetri tell you about our first meeting? How I stared into her eyes, thanks to Minerva and her idiotic thinking," he asked, watching Aurora's face. She'd respond, show her love for him again. He knew she would.

Demetri narrowed her eyes wondering what he found funny as she downed her own shot. "I believe I did tell her."

"She did. Why?" Aurora's eyes briefly darted to Demetri. "Did you see something? Maybe the time Dem decided to do a brilliant rendition of the Twisted Sisters."

"Oh?" He turned to Demetri, all thoughts of trying to rile Aurora up gone again.

"Shut up, Sin."

"Oh, come now, Dem. Severus wants to know."

"Like I said earlier, I don't back down from a challenge, and my dear friend here bet me she'd get a better grade than me on a paper. The wager was to sing a song of the winner's choosing in front of the school. I went the extra mile and did it in nothing but a strategically placed Twisted Sisters poster."

"She got an Exceeds Expectations. But then again the professor was a bit of a creep."

"It was the only E I got in that man's class."

"Not the only E he got, though, was it?" Aurora joked, snorting into her bottle.

Demetri laughed almost choking on her drink. "Oh my God, Sin. That's horrible."

Severus looked at the laughing witches, ignoring the fact that he was now seeing two copies of them. They seemed to have gotten over the initial jealousy that had come between them. Old friends. Sisters perhaps even, he could see, in their carefree attitudes. He opened his mouth to tell Aurora that he had missed her, that he was glad she was home, back. But his mouth closed instead. How would he have liked it if he had sat there when Evans had told James that all those years ago? He wouldn't hurt Demetri like that.

"Demetri said you'd be returning to Hogwarts now that time is right again and that your mission for Albus is over?"

"Yeah. If Minerva still wants me. But," she shrugged, "I'm not going to be fully back. I've asked if Dem could still teach a few classes. Maybe a few together," Aurora said, smiling softly at Dem. "Being around all those Aurors all the time, and the Fates, ugh . . . it's going to take me a bit to get back into the swing of things."

"If we are going to share classes, we should stop telling stories of our exploits. We wouldn't want to corrupt the children." Demetri glanced at Severus.

Aurora snorted. "We're already beyond saving, Dem." She then shook her head. "I should get back. Before my other mother starts thinking I got lost."

"Your other mother?"

"Minerva. Jeez, Dem. Keep up, will you?" Aurora laughed. "Or has Minerva forgotten about me this year considering I've been gone?" She then stood up, almost falling back down. "Maybe on second thought, I'll just sit here for awhile longer."

"No she hasn't forgotten you." Demetri snorted as Aurora sat back down. "Yeah. I can see Minerva agreeing to allow us to co teach the second she she's us trying to get back up that hill, into the castle and to the tower without killing ourselves.

"Oh, please." Aurora waved her hand drunkenly. "Minerva is so in love with my dad that it's not even funny. Or rather he's in love with her. Did you know after Mother's..." Her voice then trailed off for a moment before she inhaled sharply and continued. "Minerva sent him a bottle of, like, this really expensive wine. Dad wasn't really thrilled that I drank it, but . . . what else was I to do? Cry about it? No. Better off this way." She grabbed Severus's hand and Demetri's. "Being with my two friends. Even if they are snogging one another behind my back," she teased.

"We are not snogging each other, Sin. We were flirting, but Mr. Master of Death here would never act on any of it."

"Master of Death?" She glanced at him. "Oh, you have the Hallows. Huh. That's new."

Severus sat there staring at her for a moment, processing everything she had said a bit ago. He then frowned, glancing at her hand. Something was wrong. However, he decided he'd ask about it later when he was a bit more sober. Right now, all he could think about was how cold her hand felt right then, and how he wanted to pull her into his arms and hold her.

"And why wouldn't he, you know? On second thought," Aurora suddenly said. "I mean, nothing's stopping you from being with Demetri. She's a wonderful witch. A bit of a jagged edge sometimes, but who isn't these days. Honestly, it doesn't bother me. Really. Nothing does. Probably the stuff. But you know, I learned this wicked thing when I was with Kingsley. Like this strong arse drink that will knock you flat on your arse. Thought of you when he told me about it, Dem. I'll go get it."

"You can't even stand, and you want to go get a stronger bottle of alcohol?"

Aurora waved Demetri off, though, and happily stumbled over to the bar.

"And she says I'm the one who can't hold my liquor," she said to Severus as she watched her friend comically make her way to the bar.

He snorted. "Yeah." He then leaned in towards her before he decided against it. He couldn't put his finger on it. Not quite yet. "We should probably get a room, yeah?"

"Planning on showing me that whole bewitching the mind and ensnaring my senses?" Demetri joked, wiggling her eyebrows at him.

He jerked before his head whipped to her. "What? No. So you two don't kill yourselves."

"Like I said, wouldn't know what to do with it." She laughed. "We don't need to get a room here. I have a flat I rented behind the apothecary when I moved across an ocean to work at the castle."

He nodded. "All right. After this drink, we'll head there." He then leaned in towards her. "All of us, so you don't get any ideas."

Demetri leaned across the table again, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face. "I always have ideas Severus."

"I don't doubt it, wicked woman." He then pulled back just before Aurora turned back around, stumbling back. His eyes narrowed at the three shot glasses. "What is it?"

"Oh, just drink it, you old stick in the mud." Aurora patted his arm. "It'll warm that little black heart of yours. Promise." She then held up her glass and waited for them. "One."

"Two," Severus murmured, glancing at Demetri. They would likely drink on three.

Demetri bit back her retort and the fierce urge to say fuck it all and kiss the damned man when he pulled away. She held up her glass keeping her eyes on the insufferable man as she said three before downing the drink.


	17. Into the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I admit it. The bunny for this chapter was just too tempting, and I gave in. :) Many thanks to Snapeswidow for helping Dem sound Demetrish. We're going to get back on track soon. Before you read, please do note that I do bring up a brief mention of substance abuse in terms of potions, which I will delve more into the next chapter. As always, thanks for your continued support and enjoy the long chapter.

At hearing a soft noise beside him the next morning, Severus slowly roused himself from his groggy, head-pounding sleep. Fingers across his chest woke him fully with a start a moment later. There shouldn't have been any fingers touching him. He sat up with his eyes widening. Oh shit! He swallowed his gasping breath.

He could feel the cool air around his midsection and the satin bedsheets against his lower half. _Aurora_. He hadn't meant . . . no. No this wasn't how it was supposed to be this time. Slow. He was going to take it slow. He turned to his companion, falling backwards off the bed when he saw blue eyes instead of warm brown. That was _most definitely_ not Aurora!

"Morning," Demetri Le Fay said with a nervous giggle, tugging the sheet tighter around herself as he fell off the side of her bed.

"What did you do?" He then glanced around the room, finding that only he and Demetri were in the room alone, and that they were naked. "What . . . no . . ." No, this could not be happening. He turned back to her, looking half-horrified and half-enraged. He then groaned loudly, grabbing his pounding head as it increased in its intensity. He had screwed up royally this time. There was no denying that.

"What did _I_ do! Last time I checked it took two to—well, there could be more than two, but . . ." She stopped suddenly as the room spun and her stomach rolled. She leaned over and opened the drawer to the nightstand that she had originally tried to reach, finding it easier with him on the floor and pulling out two hangover potions. She drank one and held the other out to him.

He glanced at the offered bottle she held out, but made no intention of grabbing it. He didn't want to feel better. He wanted to suffer for his stupidity yet again. How could he do something so foolish, so stupid, so Potter-like? Hadn't he learned his lesson yet? Apparently not, it seemed.

"Seems you got your way, didn't you?" he stated coldly, settling on his usual tactics again. After all, if he pushed everyone away, he'd not feel so crappy. It had worked brilliantly over the years before. "You finally got to live out your fantasies. Well, congratulations, Le Fay." He slow-clapped.

"Yes, Severus, I'm fucking ecstatic," Demetri snarled. How dare he throw all the blame back on her! The stupid git! "You see, this was my plan all along. I knew there was no way you'd want me, so I got you shit-faced drunk, lured you here, and had my way with you!" When she saw his self-satisfied look, she threw the hangover potion he hadn't taken then, and it shattered against the wall. How dare he blame her solely for this! She hadn't wanted this! Maybe a small part of her, but she wasn't the horrible monster he was making her out to be right then. She almost shaking now from how livid she was with him. "Because who cares if I hurt my friends, right? After all, I'm a Le Fay, so it's only natural that I'm an evil bitch, right?"

"If the shoe fits," he snarled back, glaring at her. It was easy to hold onto his anger, to ignore the pain he felt. If he remained angry like this, he'd not feel the underlying wounds to his heart, the betrayal.

Bunching the sheet even tighter around herself, Demetri flew up off the bed and slapped him so hard that her hand had felt like she had broken it. "Screw you! You know what? I'm glad Aurora hasn't acted on her feelings for you!" Her eyes flashed angrily. "You don't deserve her, you son of a bitch!"

His own eyes flashed now, and his jaw clenched. It was taking everything in him not to say what he really wanted to say back to her right then. She had ruined everything. Everything he had spent so hard working on. As it was, though, he scoffed a moment later and shook his head as he redressed. He needed to get out of there. To find Aurora. Or on second thought, he wouldn't find her quite yet. At least not until he had a better handle on himself, lest he ruin things even more with her. However, he couldn't just not respond to Demetri's words, though.

"You're not worth a single word spoken from my lips, Le Fey. Not after this stunt of yours." He tugged up his trousers, fastening them. "I hope that this was worth it for you and wish you all the best in your pathetic, worthless life. Truly all the best," he spat, glaring at her. "Because once again, a Le Fay woman lived up to her legacy: a pathetic hag that will always be alone."

"I'd rather be alone than be with someone like you," Demetri yelled back. "You call me pathetic when you should be taking a long, hard look in the mirror. After all, I didn't fuck up my life so bad that I had to go back in time to fix it like you." She wanted to make him hurt as much as she did right then. "You couldn't stand the fact that you were so pathetic that you had to follow a madman to feel important. And you know what? I don't have blood on my hands or bodies on my conscience either. Which can't be said the same for you, can it, Severus?" She scoffed when he clenched his jaw even tighter. "You claim to have this darkness in you. Well, now, how do I know this wasn't your plan all along?" she threw back at him. "Wait till we are all drunk off our asses and use my fantasy of being with you against me. All so you can have Aurora all to yourself. I mean, let's face it. You know she'll never forgive me if she thinks this is _my_ doing."

He laughed angrily. "Yes, because I definitely thought sleeping with _you_ of all people would be a brilliant idea. How stupid are you? Do you honestly believe that she'd forgive me for this? That all would be perfect for us after this? If so, then you clearly don't know her at all. Or know anything about love for that matter."

"You're one to talk about knowing what love is," Demetri snapped. "I mean, let's be honest. Shall we? You don't love Aurora. You're obsessed with her. And from what I've gathered from your mother, she's not exactly the first woman you obsessed over and drove away. Is she?"

"Pathetic."

"Again, that is the pot calling the cauldron black."

He scoffed. "Enjoy your sad, lonely life. That is if you don't end up dead in the gutter first."

"Better to be dead in the gutter from drinking myself to death than at the hands of a misguided sycophant." At the sight of his eyeroll, she added, "Yeah, well, at least I can show off my tattoo without being ashamed of why I got it, Severus, unlike you!"

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Maybe I do or maybe I'm just talking to keep from hexing you, which I should have done the minute you opened your mouth and put the blame for all this solely on me."

"You have no idea who you are talking with. It's laughable that you think you could hex me."

"Oh, that's right. You're the Master of Death." She rolled her eyes. "I'm terrified."

Within a flash, he flicked his wrist, sending a wandless, nonverbal at hex at her. He wouldn't stand by and be attacked like that. And by her of all people!

Demetri blinked in surprise at his unexpected hex. Instinct had her cast a shield to block his hex, the spell making her stumble back as it collided with her shield. When she had managed to block his spell successfully, she wordlessly summoned her wand and sent a non-verbal stunner at the bastard in return. How dare he throw a hex at her!

Severus effortlessly waved her stunner away, though, as if it was nothing but a mere annoyance. "Is that all you have?" He scoffed. "Weak just like you."

She dropped her shield then and flicked her wand, sending a blinding hex at him before immediately sending a Bombarda with her non-wand hand. She'd show him who was weak!

He waved away her first hex and moved to send one of his spells at her. He'd end her like the annoying, pathetic twit she was! Only something wrapped itself around his feet, throwing him off balance as he took a step forward.

Demetri swore as her Bombarda hit the wall, missing him and sending wood and plaster flying around the room as a result. Her wand returned to him as he remained sprawled on his back on the floor, anticipating another hex from him. "Master of Death foiled by a bra of all things," she remarked snidely.

He clenched his jaw tightly. Unfortunately, she had been right, though. He had tripped on a stupid bra. He snatched ahold of it, tossing the offending lacy object at her. "Go put some clothes on."

She sidestepped the flying garment, though, and bent over him. "You don't get to tell me what to do in my own home." She gripped her wand tightly, itching to hex him good now that he wasn't hexing back. She wouldn't stoop that low, though.

He scoffed, pushing her away from him as he stood up again. "Unlike your fantasy, I won't be making your breakfast. Enjoy the rest of your damn day." He headed for the door. He needed to get out of there before he truly lost it on her.

"I'm sure you're smart enough to find the door on your own. Don't let it hit you on the way out," she stated coldly as she walked over to her dresser, pulling out random clothes before going into the bathroom and slamming the door behind her.

"Oh, I will," he yelled out to her.

"That made no sense, you moron," Demetri muttered as she angrily pulled on her clothes. Stupid git who thought so highly of himself. As if she wanted this to happen! Had wanted to jeopardize her friendship with them both? Wanted to ruin everything? Her eyes narrowed when she realized she hadn't heard the door slam. What the hell was he doing out there anyway?

She looked at her reflection in the mirror, hating what she saw.

SLAM!

"Fuck!" Demetri screamed before she stormed back into the now empty bedroom. Fuck it all to hell and back! Snatching the pillows and sheets from her bed, she brought all of it back into the bathroom and chucked them into the tub. A flick of her wand a moment later, and the objects burst into flames, incinerated beyond all belief. Sliding down the wall, the young witch watched the flames and cursed herself for fucking up her friendships with Aurora and Severus because of a damned crush.

* * *

The minute he felt the familiar wards around him, the young twenty-two-year-old balled up and tossed his outer robes as hard as he could against the wall in his bedroom at Ashmore Manor. He was angry, angrier than he had been in a very long time actually. Vaguely, he heard something crash and shatter not long after tossing his robes, but he had moved on to kicking off his heavy boots.

Yet again, he had screwed up royally. Something he was very good at obviously. The Fates likely were having a laugh up there in fact over his misfortune. They had to be. Every single person he had ever encountered had done so at some point or another after all. Severus the dunderhead. Severus the coward. Severus the screw-up.

Just once he'd like things not to get so screwed up, so twisted, so—

"FUCK!" he yelled, his boot sailing through the air after he kicked it. The pain centered him for a moment, but his anger quickly returned with a vengeance. Just once . . . that was all . . . just once.

" _You call me pathetic when you should be taking a long, hard look in the mirror," Demetri's voice floated around the room as he recalled her earlier words._

His fist curled even tighter into a ball, his nails digging into his palm and drawing blood.

" _You don't love Aurora. You're obsessed with her. And from what I've gathered from your mother, she's not exactly the first woman you obsessed over and drove away. Is she?"_

Every bit of self-restraint he had vanished at his ghostly tormentor's words. His fist slammed hard against the nearby wall, the plaster easily breaking way and sending his hand through it. He hissed angrily at the pain that shot through his hand and up his arm in to his elbow.

What the hell did she know anyway? Not a damn thing clearly! Obsessed? Him? How ridiculous. He wasn't obsessed with Aurora. He cared for her. That was it. But, of course, Demetri, Miss Know-It-All herself, took his feelings and warped them, claiming it was all obsession and not love. He wouldn't put it past that witch that she was trying to sway him to her. Actually, she wasn't trying at all to sway him. No, it was quite clear that she was intentionally sabotaging his relationship with Aurora. Demetri, after all, was the one who had suggested they drink, not him. Not Aurora. Her! She had wanted this to happen. No matter how much she denied otherwise, he knew the truth. She was to blame, not him!

"What in the blazes is going on in here?" his father demanded as he burst into Severus's room several moments later. When Severus didn't answer, Tobias's blue eyes darted from him to the fist-shaped hole in the wall. "Christ, son. What'd the wall ever do to you?" Tobias then reached towards him. "Let's get that bandaged up, yeah?"

"I'm fine," Severus grumbled with a deep frown. He didn't need his father's sympathy. He didn't need _anyone's_ sympathy. Sympathy didn't fix things.

"Bullshit! Ya ain't anywhere close to fine." Tobias motioned towards the wall to emphasize that.

The young wizard scoffed at his father before he pushed the nightstand over with another scream of sheer frustration. It didn't help, though, so he grabbed items and chucked them as hard as he could against the wall. The sound of glass shattering was cause for celebration for him. He just wanted all of it to burn, burn in hell. Burn in hell like him.

"Throwin' a tantrum like this, son, isn't gonna fix things! So, knock it the hell off!" his dad shouted at him, moving to grab his arm when Severus went to throw another object.

"Get off me!"

"Not until ya calm down! Christ, son, ya actin' like the world's fallin' apart."

"Well, maybe it fucking is, Dad!" Severus snarled back, shaking the man off him.

"What happened?"

"Does it matter? I screwed up. Again! Like always! Your son, the brilliant screw-up."

Not having any more of Severus's words, Tobias yanked his son into a brutal hug, his arms wrapping tightly around the angry young man and forcing Severus's arms to be pinned against his father's chest.

"Let me go! Let go! Let—"

"You ain't a screw up, Severus, so get that shit out of yer head this minute."

"You . . . you don't know," he choked out through his gasping breaths.

"Know what?"

Severus could start to feel himself tremble in his dad's embrace. The anger was quickly dissipating, being replaced with sadness, fear, and guilt. No. No he needed to hold onto his anger. To not feel anything but his rage. He had to . . .

"Nothin' ya could have done, Severus, isn't fixable."

"You don't know that." His father couldn't know how his luck ran. The man had only been around for a year in fact.

"Is this about your lady friend?"

"Aurora. Her name is Aurora, Dad!" He caught Tobias's instant slight dip of his head then and inhaled deeply. His anger was almost gone, and he could feel that his dad had lessened his hold on him somewhat. "I screwed up. Again. There's nothing more to say than that. I screwed up."

"How? What happened?"

"I . . ." The young man scoffed as his voice went out. "Never mind. You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand?" Tobias shook his head, releasing him and taking a step back. "All right. Fine. We can play that game. Tell me if I'm close, yeah?" His dad's blue eyes narrowed like a hawk's.

Play what game? He didn't understand what his dad was going on about. He had screwed up. That was the short of it. There was nothing more to say. He had screwed up, and there was no way his father who had likely never done anything as horrible as this could understand.

"Ya smell like ya took a bath in a still," Tobias declared. "Ya got what I guess is a bite mark to yer neck. Ya also got the whole 'The sky is falling, and I'm Chicken Little.' So, deducing all that together, ya got shit-faced last night at dinner and ended up in someone's bed. How'd I do?"

Severus stared at his father.

"Course, ya know, I wouldn't understand any of that crap, being a recovering alcoholic and all. So, what the hell do I know, yeah?"

He didn't like how his father was just passing it off as if it was nothing. It wasn't nothing. He had screwed up his chance with Aurora. She wouldn't forgive him. She'd do what everyone else did in his life and abandon him. This would be the last straw that put the nail in his coffin.

"It wasn't yer lass, I take it?" Tobias asked quietly.

Severus closed his eyes, turning away.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Well, if the lass is worth a damn thing like ya claim she is, she'll forgive ya. Might be wantin' to kill ya first, but eventually she'll forgive ya."

"You don't know that."

"Nor do you," his dad replied bluntly.

Frowning, the young man sighed heavily. His dad was right. He didn't know her enough to know how she'd react exactly. And it wasn't like they were together anyway. They had only shared a kiss or two. That was it. It was hardly a declaration of a relationship after all. Well, for him it was at least. But what did he know about relationships anyway? Nothing really. In fact, Demetri had been right. His last one had been nothing more than obsession, one-sided as that. And if he really thought on it, he knew that he was no better than a stalker really with Evans.

"I know ya don't want to hear this, son, but, well, shit happens. Ya best own up to it now before she finds out from someone else. I ain't sayin' it'll be a walk in the park, though, cause it won't, but it takes a certain kind of man to own up to that."

"Yeah, a bastard, git, greaseball, cocksucker, son of a bitch . . ." The list went on.

"Maybe, but ya know, bitchin' to me ain't gonna help ya with this problem."

"You don't know that." He glanced at his dad when he heard his dad's chuckles.

"Ah, shit, son. It's times like this where I just have to laugh. Not at ya, but . . ." His dad sighed a moment later. "Ya can keep breakin' shit till there ain't nothing left, but it ain't gonna help. Trust me. Because yer mind, genius level it is, is just gonna drive ya mad with all the possibilities—some of them farfetched, some not. So, my advice is, ya stop sulking like this teenage brat, and ya go talk to her. Talk, Severus. Not yell. Talk to her, and say 'I fucked up, and I'm sorry. But it ain't gonna happen again, cause I'm gonna get this drinkin' under control. Cause you deserve better, lass. And I'm gonna give ya the world.' Or, ya know, some such shit like that."

The young man stared at him for several moments.

"What? Did I say somethin' wrong, son?"

"How do you do that?"

"Do what?" Tobias seemed genuinely confused by Severus's question.

"How do you make that look so easy?"

"What? The romance crap?" Tobias shrugged. "It's a gift. And if ya weren't so wrapped up in yer head all the time, ya could do it too. I'm sure of it."

"You're wrong. I . . . I can't do that. I can't get anywhere close that. I try and it all comes out—I don't know—gibberish, I guess."

"It's cause yer stuck in yer head. Just, ya know, don't think. Do. Just not after drinkin', cause we Snape men are idiots when it comes to alcohol and women."

"Did you—"

"Oh, Christ no! Yer mum would have roasted my balls or at the very least hung them from a rafter or two. I never cheated on her. Not once. Didn't even cross my mind actually. I love her more than everything in the world."

Severus's head hung lower, as he felt worse.

"That doesn't mean, though, that I don't get what yer feelin', son. Cause I do. I can think of half-dozen things that I remember feelin' guilty for after a night of drinking, and the pit in my stomach when I'd have to tell yer mother that I screwed up again."

"She forgave you, though?"

"Sometimes yeah. Sometimes no. But it was always the times when I didn't own up to my mistakes, that upset her more than anything and would make her not forgive me."

"I care for Aurora, Dad."

"Yeah, I can see that," Tobias replied, motioning towards the semi-destroyed room. "If yer lass don't forgive ya, ya got yer mum and me and Harrison. All right?"

Severus closed his eyes.

"Just, well . . ."

He turned to his dad with a frown. "What?"

"Are ya sure ya shagged this other lass?"

"Am I sure I—of course I'm sure! We both were naked!"

"All right, but was there actual, you know . . .?" His dad made a crude gesture.

Severus stared at his father for several moments before he shook his head. "I don't remember it, the details or anything, if that's what you're asking. I just remember Aurora bringing us a shot of something and all of us drinking it. She was saying it was something that'd knock us on our arses, and she was right."

His dad's eyes narrowed sharply. "What color was it? The drink?"

"Um, reddish, I think. Why?"

His dad scratched his jaw for a moment before he shook his head. "I don't know of any red drinks. Green, blue, clear, amber, etc, I know." His dad then shrugged. "So, it could be that you just woke up naked with the lass, and nothing happened. It ain't unheard of after all. I once was so drunk that I ended up findin' myself on the floor of a pub's stockroom, not a bit of clothin' anywhere near me."

"But you were alone."

"Yeah, but if yer anything like me, son, ya only reach the point of being an idiot drunk that takes off his clothes, not one who gets randy and shagging anything in a skirt." Tobias shrugged. "And, well, I'd bet there's a spell to make sure if ya actually did anything."

"What?"

"Like—I don't know— _Coitus Revelio_ or something."

Severus's mouth dropped before he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He may not have been experienced when it came to sex, but he was fairly certain he was smart enough to recognize certain signs of a drunken one-night stand. After all, he was twenty-two-years-old.

"I'll be back."

"All right. Just remember, though, if she gets angry with ya, that doesn't necessarily mean she's writin' ya off. Just that she's hurt, so don't fly off the rails right away. Got it?"

Severus nodded slowly, feeling his heart start to race again. What if she didn't forgive him? He had cheated on her with her best friend of all people. Well, technically, they weren't together, but she loved him and he cared for her, so they may as well have been.

He didn't even know where Aurora would be, but he thought back to last night's conversation and recalled her talking about McGonagall. It was a place to start at least. He walked over to where he had kicked his boots and put them back on before holding a hand out and summoning his outer robes. At the sounds of the shards of glass tinkling to the floor, he grimaced.

"And when you get back after everything's good again, ya can clean up this pigsty of a room of yers," his dad remarked with a sly smirk. "We ain't running a hotel here after all."

"Yes, Dad," Severus replied before he Disapparated again.

* * *

Meanwhile, now standing in the Astronomy classroom, Demetri rearranged the telescopes for the hundredth time as she tried to figure out what the hell she was going to say to Aurora. There was no right way to say that she had slept with her best friend's soulmate.

After Severus had stormed out of her flat, Demetri had sat in the bathroom just staring at nothing as the night's events played over and over in her head. She shouldn't have kept up with the game she was playing to see how far she could push Severus, but it was funny at the time to get a reaction out of him. Her amusement just screwed up not only her friendship with the man, but also any chance he had with Aurora. She shouldn't have gotten the two of them as drunk as she had. It was stupid in hindsight. She had only kept giving him alcohol, so he'd loosen up around Aurora, not so Demetri could have her way with him as Severus claimed. His words kept creeping in to her mental chastisement even now. She couldn't help but start to believe what he had spat at her. She had ruined everything.

A brush against her leg startled her from her thoughts, and she dropped the telescope she had in her hand. The lens shattered as it hit the floor. "Goddamn it, Merlin!" she swore as her cat rubbed against her leg again. "Don't you have anything better to do than bother me right now?" The cat looked up at her and let out an innocent meow.

She sighed as she waved her wand to fix the broken lens and set the telescope back on a shelf before she picked up the cat. "You're lucky you're a cat and have no other worries in life besides eating and sleeping." The black cat nudged her chin as he purred, and she couldn't help but smile. "At least you're not mad at me for my stupidity."

She scratched behind Merlin's ear before she set him down on the desk. He immediately set off batting around a balled-up piece of parchment. She picked up a rolled-up scroll of parchment near him before the menace could crush it and put it in her pocket. She had come to the castle to write a letter resigning from her post, but she couldn't get up the courage to hand the letter to the Headmistress yet.

She had enjoyed this job. More than she had thought she would.

At an unexpected knock on the door, Demetri looked up. "It's open," she called out.

Slowly, the door opened and revealed Aurora who had stepped inside with a smile. She was wearing the same outfit as last night, just a bit more wrinkled. "I thought I saw light in here."

Demetri sighed heavily as her guilt returned with a vengeance. "I was rearranging some things."

Aurora nodded, her fingers tracing over one of the designs on a telescope. "I can understand that all things considered."

Demetri raised an eyebrow at her tone. "What do you mean?"

Snorting, Aurora looked at her. "Dem, come on. I acted like a jealous bitch last night. Severus is—that is—you're both adults. And I—well, I chose the mission over him."

"Sin, I'm not upset about you being late or even jealous last night." She couldn't be upset about that. Not with what had happened last night.

"Then what?"

"Have you spoken to Severus at all today?" Demetri asked as she straightened a pile of star charts on the desk, avoiding the other witch's gaze. She hated this.

"Oh, dear Circe, no!" Aurora laughed. "I pretty much bolted this morning. Actually, that's sort of why I came here. I sort of misplaced some things at your flat last night."

"What in the nine hells are you talking about?"

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you, Dem?"

"Yes, because I honestly have no idea what you're talking about."

"Fine. I left my bra behind when I left. It was dark and . . . well, yeah." She laughed again. "Not my proudest moment I admit, but I couldn't face him, knowing that arse would make some stupid remark and I'd punch him. Or worse."

Demetri snorted softly. "Well, I did punch him, but not for stupid remarks. Honestly, he really knows how to use your insecurities against you."

Aurora shrugged. "He's gone through hell his entire life. So, he's learned to always be on his defense and how to make the best offense end up destroying the defense." Her lips pursed briefly before she shrugged once more. "But it's over so no use crying over that spilled milk."

"That doesn't excuse him blaming me for what happened between the two of us and acting like I had it planned from the beginning," Demetri replied defensively.

"What?"

Demetri sighed. Once again, her mouth had gotten away from her. Closing her eyes, she thought for a moment on the best way to say it. There wasn't really a good way, though.

"We slept together last night, Severus and me," Demetri admitted quietly. "And this morning, he freaked out and said it was my fault." She sneaked a peek at her friend, but Aurora wasn't showing her emotions for once. "How I was just like Morgana and how I only did it to fulfill a warped fantasy." She tried to take a breath, and it caught in her throat. "How I don't deserve love and will die alone."

Aurora stared at her for a moment before she burst out laughing. "Dem, question for you?" she asked through loud laughs. "Did you happen to, I don't know, look at his neck or anything when you woke up? See a bite mark or something? I mean, as far as I know, you aren't a biter."

"Are you kidding me right now? I was too busy defending myself both verbally and from a few of his hexes to pay attention to his body, Aurora!"

How could she just stand there laughing like that? Was Aurora even listening to her? She had slept with the man Aurora loved! Yet there she was, acting like it wasn't a big deal. This was not the Aurora she knew. It wasn't anywhere close to her. In fact, the Aurora she knew would have hexed her out a window or worse.

"You didn't sleep with him, Dem," Aurora said, gently resting a hand on Demetri's arm. "Trust me. Now, he may have moved from the couch where we were after I left, but . . ."

Demetri narrowed her eyes at the other woman as she tried to process what Aurora had just said. She could vaguely remember three of them stumbling from the bar up the small flight of stairs to her flat, but the rest of last night after that was a blank. "You and Severus . . ."

"Yeah. Which is wrong considering."

Demetri's eyes flashed. Aurora was the one who had been with him? Not her? And she left both of them? She clenched her jaw. This entire time she had been so sure that she had ruined everything when she hadn't. And now, here Aurora was admitting that she had been the one to screw things up.

"No. What was wrong was you slinking off instead of facing him like a god-damned adult!" Demetri yelled, scaring Merlin who took off out the classroom door. "I spent all fucking morning trying to figure out how to tell you I fucked up and how sorry I was." She pulled the rolled-up parchment from her pocket and threw it on the desk. "I was ready to leave, to go back home."

Aurora glanced at the parchment briefly before she shook her head. "Dem, it's fine. Everything's good. There's no need to apologize. You didn't shag him. And if you did, who cares?" She patted Demetri's arm gently. "Minerva was saying that while you were here, short that it was, that you've done good work. Why would you leave now?"

Demetri shook her head, though. This entire conversation with Aurora was wrong, very wrong. Aurora had always worn her emotions on her sleeve. Yet the entire time she had been in this room she had barely shown anything but amusement. It was like everything was one big joke to her.

And leaving Severus after having drunken sex? That wasn't the Aurora she knew. She'd be embarrassed, regretful even, but she'd sure as hell as make sure he didn't wake up alone. She had always told Demetri during their time at university how she had hated that feeling afterwards. She wouldn't do that to him.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Aurora forced a laugh, rolling her eyes. "Everything's fine."

Demetri slipped her wand in her hand, though. "No. You're not fine, Aurora." She had expected a reaction from her friend then, any kind of reaction, but Aurora only stood in front of her with no care in the world it seemed. As if it wasn't a big deal that Demetri had drawn her wand and pointed it at her.

"Oh, honestly, Dem. Everything's fine. Nothing's wrong."

"I don't believe you. You're acting strange. You were last night as well."

Aurora snorted. "You're seeing things. I'm not acting any differently. Everything's fine."

Demetri didn't believe the witch, but didn't want to hex her unprovoked either. She'd never hear the end of it from Severus. But something was clearly wrong with her. She just wasn't certain what it was. "No, it's not fine. Something is wrong with you."

"Why? Because I'm not all sunshine and rainbows about finally shagging Severus? I don't remember it, Dem, so—"

"None of us remember last night, Aurora."

"Exactly. Why make it weird then?"

"Make it weird? It's already passed weird! Severus thinks I'm some kind of man-stealing harlot because he can't remember shagging you. All he knows is he woke up in bed naked next to me."

"So?" Aurora shook her head. "You know the truth, Demetri. Who cares what he thinks? He's an arse after all."

"I care, Aurora." Demetri threw he hands up in the air. "We both said some pretty horrible things to each other this morning. So, forgive me, that I care that I lost a friend over something I didn't do, a friend who now believes the worst of me."

Aurora shrugged before she hopped up on Demetri's desk. "He'll get over it. Just like you will. And why do you even care? I mean, it's actually loads better for you not to. Easier that way not to care."

Demetri backed away from the desk, shaking her head. "I don't know what is wrong with you, Aurora, but I'm not going to stand here and listen to you make a joke out of this."

"Who's joking? I'm not. I'm only saying that you need to adopt a better attitude like I have. Otherwise, all you'll see is the bad stuff."

"Not caring if I hurt the ones I care for is a better attitude?" That was it. She was so done with this conversation. "Hanging around Morgana a bit too much, Aurora?" Demetri snidely replied.

"Hardly. It's just something I learned, Dem."

"Well, it's not something I wish to learn." Demetri shook her head. "I can't deal with you and whatever this is you've got going on. I now have to try and figure out how to tell Severus you were the one he slept with and try to salvage our friendship somehow." Demetri grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

"All right. Well, bye then."

* * *

Severus frowned when he reached the Headmistress's office. He could hear soft voices inside, recognizing by the tone of McGonagall's voice she didn't like what was being said. The voice then went silent. He waited a few more seconds before he knocked against the heavy oak door.

"Enter," McGonagall called out sharply from the other side.

He pushed open the door and stepped inside. His eyes narrowed briefly as he found that it was only the Headmistress in the room. The other person must have left through the Floo.

"Severus?" She immediately smiled pleasantly at him as he walked in while she closed one of the large windows in the office. "I wasn't aware you were here. Do you want anything? A cup of tea? A bit of scotch?" she asked with a soft laugh.

"No thank you."

She nodded, motioning to the empty chair across from her desk as she moved to sit down. "What can I do for you today?"

He clasped his hands tightly behind his back, as he remained standing. "Aurora—"

McGonagall's face fell instantly, and she let out a large sigh.

"I take it you've heard then," she declared, pinching her lips tightly together.

"Heard?" His eyes narrowed. "I'm afraid I don't follow, Headmistress."

"About her mother, Syra?" McGonagall replied with a sad shake of her head. "While I will freely admit that Syra and I never saw eye-to-eye on many things, I do regret hearing of her death. Such senselessness really. It was quite fortunate that her father was able to escape the attack, though."

His mouth dropped. Her mother had died?

"I've been trying to get her to see someone," McGonagall admitted, not paying much attention to him, "to deal with her trauma, but that girl is like her father, stubborn to the core."

He leaned forward, gripping the side of McGonagall's desk to keep from falling in shock.

"She keeps claiming that it hasn't affected her, but anyone with eyes can see it has. And Albus, oh that man, 'It'll help her move on, Minerva.' As if that man truly cared about anyone but himself. He used her grief to force her to do that stupid mission of his."

His knuckles whitened as he gripped her desk harder.

"She was already in a fragile state, and sending her on mission after mission like that, it was inhumane." McGonagall then glanced at him. "Severus? Are you all right?"

"What sort of missions?" he choked out, wondering if they were similar in nature to his that he used to do for the old man. If they were, then . . . He didn't even want to think about the damage that had done. He was still dealing with the damage from his time in Dumbledore's strings.

"I'm not certain on the particulars. He claimed at the time it was to help you. At least that was how she justified it to me when she declined the available Astronomy position." She sighed quietly. "When I heard she was with you, I thought it was over. That she'd finally take the time to heal. She always has been one to avoid that sort of thing. A bit like you, in fact," she said with a faint somber smile. "But it's clear it didn't have that effect."

If he had known that she was hurting . . .

"When did her mother die?"

"Over the summer. June, I believe. The cowards came out of nowhere, attacking in the middle of the night. Orin just barely managed to escape with his life. If it hadn't been for Declan, we'd have lost them both I'm afraid."

"Declan?"

Her eyes narrowed on him for a moment before she laughed quietly. "Ah, yes. I forget that you're not that close with her. Declan Fiori. He helped out at the manor with the horses. He and his family. He considers himself a big brother to her. He was just here a bit ago in fact, wanting to know if I had seen Aurora. He took his leave suddenly, though." She smiled faintly. "Likely after he smelled you and decided that he'd find her another way."

"Smelled me?"

"He's a vampire. Well, the whole clan over there was, except Aurora and Orin. Syra, I believe, was turned after she first started getting sick. I don't know for certain when it was. Orin didn't like to speak about her necessarily after it happened."

He nodded slowly. He had now learned more about Aurora and her family than he had in months. But he couldn't wrap his head around this attack. He'd have thought for sure the _Prophet_ would have spoken about it at some point.

"Do you know where she is, Headmistress?" He caught her eyes. "I was hoping to speak with her about something."

"Well, she comes to visit her father sometimes at night I know, but when I spoke with her earlier, brief as it was, she said something about going to speak with Miss Le Fay."

It took every single bit of self-restraint to keep from reacting to her words. Aurora had gone to speak with Demetri? He was screwed, royally. That witch would turn everything around on him and say he was the one who had initiated, had wanted it when it couldn't be further from the truth. Demetri was a friend, and that was all she'd ever be to him. That was before her little stunt last night.

"I see." He dipped his head forward. "If you'll excuse me."

"Of course." She stood again. "Forgive me for asking this, Severus, but now that your family is safe, have you given any thought to returning? Hogwarts does miss you." She then met his eyes. "I myself miss your sarcasm somedays."

He blinked at her words and stared at her for a moment. "Um, not yet, Headmistress. It's still too new in my mind, but thank you for your kind words. I'll inform you the moment I make a decision."

She nodded at him. "I look forward to hearing from you then."

Without another word, he took his leave and headed towards the Astronomy office. He hoped that he wasn't too late.

As he strode through the seemingly empty halls of Hogwarts, he found his mind wandering back to the first time he had ever walked these halls. Evans had been by his side, and they were headed back to their respective common rooms after he had gotten into yet another duel with James Potter. He snorted as he thought back on it. He should have recognized then when she was fiercely defending Potter's actions that she didn't truly care for him any longer, that she had abandoned him. Aurora hadn't abandoned him, though. She had always been by his side. He just hadn't noticed her.

" _Come on, Snape. Just once. That's it, and I'll leave you alone. I promise," a soft, familiar voice echoed around him in his mind. "You know you want to."_

" _Go away."_

" _Not until you say yes."_

" _Sinistra, I said no."_

" _No, technically you said that you wanted me to go away. It wasn't exactly a no. Just once. Please? I'll leave you alone afterwards."_

_His teenage self groaned loudly, a book slamming a moment later. "Fine. If only to get rid of you. After all, some of us do study in Slytherin."_

" _Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Let me see. Reg has been going on for days about how you can do this."_

" _Regulus has a big mouth."_

" _Well, of course he does. He's a Black." Her soft, airy laughter fell around them. "Come on. Before Filch or someone comes."_

_He held his palm out to her and murmured a soft spell. From nothing, a small green bud started to form in the center of his palm before it grew and eventually bloomed into a daisy. Her eyes remained on the flower he had spelled. A moment later, the daisy started to change colors before it was consumed by fire and vanished._

" _Now, will you stop pestering me?" his teenage self replied with a huff._

" _That was beautiful. Thank you." Her teenage self smiled widely before she ran off._

When he opened the door to the Astronomy classroom a few minutes later, he had expected to find Aurora and Demetri with their wands trained on him, hexes on their tongues. What he found, though, was Aurora sitting atop of Demetri's desk swinging her legs back and forth. He glanced around the room in confusion. Demetri was nowhere to be found.

"You looking for your girlfriend?" Aurora asked amusedly.

"What?"

"Demetri. After all, the way I hear it, you found your way into her bed last night."

The color drained from his face. "Aurora, I'm so sorry," he started to say, taking a step to her.

She started laughing, though. "Why? We're not together. We've shared a few kisses. That's it. That's hardly a relationship."

"I know, but you—"

"I don't care what you do, Severus. You're an adult. You're free to shag whomever you want, even if that so happens to be my best friend after a night of drinking." She shrugged, still swinging her legs as if she didn't care about anything. Her eyes were cold, emotionless.

"You don't mean that."

"No. I do mean that, Severus. I don't give a damn what you do. I'm not your girlfriend."

He sighed softly. "I'm sorry to hear about your mother. I only met her once or twice, but . . ."

"It happens," she replied with another shrug. "No reason to dwell on it."

"There is, though. You need to grieve, to process everything. Pushing it away isn't going to—"

"You know what would help me, Severus?" she interrupted, forcing her smile as she slid from the desk and walked towards him.

"What? Say it, and I'll do it," he replied instinctively.

Her smile grew slightly before she stopped in front of him. "If everyone would stop treating me like a fragile doll, that'd be great. Because I'm not." Her fingers danced about his collar, as her eyes met his. "I'm not a doll, Severus. I'm not going shatter because you woke up naked next to Demetri this morning. Do you know why? Because I know you." Her fingers slowly slid under his shirt, resting atop of where his heart was. "I know how much of a gentleman you are, how good you are underneath all of this protective, scary garb you wear."

He trembled under her touch, his breathing shaky and erratic. He couldn't deny that she was affecting him very badly right then. When she leaned in, her lips beside his ear, he swallowed.

"You weren't with Dem last night. You may have found your way to her bed after I left, but you are too much of a gentleman to allow yourself to be with any woman in that sort of state." She then pulled back. "But I admit I did give it my best last night, but alas, we were foiled by Dem's damn cat."

"What?"

She smirked before she pulled back his collar and traced the mark on his neck. "Unless you thought this mark was from the cat?. I mean, the cat did hiss at us, but I think that was more because we about rolled atop of it."

"You and I . . ." He stared at her.

"Yes, Severus, You and I almost had drunken sex, but was foiled by a cat."

"I . . . how do you know this?" He couldn't remember a damn thing from last night but drinking that last shot of hers of the mystery drink.

"Unlike you and Dem, I have a bit of a tolerance to Bliss."

"Bliss?" He grabbed her upper arms, his eyes widening in horror. "Aurora, that's—"

"Oh here we go," she drawled, scoffing. "Lecture mode."

It all started to make sense. Her attitude, her behavior. Bliss was a very addictive potion that was outlawed long ago. He grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him. When he saw the deep red tint to her eyes, he felt his stomach drop. She had to have been taking it for months to have this deep of a red tint.

"How could you do something so stupid, so reckless, so selfish? People have died taking this!"

"Only the addicts, and a potion a day is hardly—"

"A potion a day?" His mind reeled as he calculated all the damage she had done to herself with that level of usage. It was mind shattering.

"Well, sometimes two," she scoffed. "Depends on how much you people push."

"You're going to Pomfrey. Now!"

"No!" She tried to pull herself out of his grasp. "I'm fine, Severus!"

"Like hell you are," he snarled back at her. The amount she had been taking, it was a miracle she could function at all. "You have been dosing yourself with a highly addictive potion that is known for slowly killing its victims!"

She scoffed. "So, I guess now's not the time to tell you that I've been taking Dreamless Sleep every single night since June?" she said snottily.

"You've been . . ." His voice trailed off before he snatched ahold of her face again. "You may have no regard for your wellbeing anymore, but I do! And I will be damned if I allow you to continue on this path of self-destruction you've set yourself on. I don't know what happened that night, but damn it, Aurora, I will not lose you! Do you understand me? I will not lose the woman I love to Death! I will not bury you as he did! So, go ahead and hate me all you want, but I will not allow this any longer. Do you hear me? I will not lose you!"

"You don't love me," she scoffed. "You're just obsessed with me. Desperately clinging like a—"

His lips slammed against hers roughly. He needed her to shut up, and this was the only way he could think it'd work. He could taste the Bliss on her lips still, realizing that she had to have taken some this morning again. How could he have not noticed that she was in pain? That she needed help? He felt her try to fight against him, but he kept kissing her. He needed to get through to her, to the Aurora he knew that was buried deep underneath the Bliss-shell.

At the sound of violent crackling overhead, he knew that her magic was instinctively going to protect her if he continued. He didn't stop, though. He couldn't. He needed to reach her. She was there. He knew she was. He just had to find her again. As the crackling increased and he started to feel her raw magic start to surround him, he deepened his kiss with her, letting his mind wander to hers. She'd recognize him. Know he wasn't trying to hurt, but that he needed her to fight, to keep fighting.

He then heard glass shattering around them. He kept his eyes on hers. He could feel the room shake violently, hear the telescopes vibrate nearby. It was as if the room was so very close to exploding. Which he supposed in a way it was, thanks to her instinctive magic.

Her eyes had darkened instead of lightening as he had hoped. It was then that she shoved him hard and away from her. He stumbled back, having not expected such strength from her. He reached back, only to fall back when her magic finally exploded all around them. The last thing he saw was the tall stained-glass windows shattering, and her jumping towards him as the shards flew at him. He slammed back, his head connecting with the stone floor, as she fell atop of him, her body shielding him from the jagged shards.

* * *

The overwhelming scent of antiseptics caused him to groan internally many hours later. The Hospital Wing. Of course he'd be there. He drew in a few more testing breaths, taking stock to see if anything hurt. Finding that he wasn't in any sort of pain, he opened one eye and then the other.

Candles were lit, bathing the wing in a warm, flickering light. It was nighttime again, he noticed. He had gone a whole day without seeing his parents and Harrison. What did that say about his parenting skills or lack thereof? Off to his side, curtains were drawn around a nearby cot, and he found himself wondering if it was Aurora being hidden from him. By his estimate, she had to have taken the brunt of the broken glass. However, his questions vanished when he noticed a shadow off to his side. Aurora? He turned towards the shadow.

"I am officially banning the two of you from coming anywhere near my classroom, my rooms here, and my flat."

His eyes closed. Not Aurora then.

Demetri smiled faintly at him. "I don't make nearly enough to keep replacing my shit you two are so intent on destroying."

He sighed heavily. His words echoed in his head as he stared at her. He needed to make this right. She didn't deserve any of his anger. Not when he had been so wrong. "Demetri, I," his voice lowered, "apologize for what I said earlier. I... I was wrong."

"Yes, you were," she replied, crossing her arms as she leaned back in the chair she was sitting in. "You're also an asshole who needs to learn to think before you open your mouth. I mean, really, you have the uncanny ability to take one's insecurities and turn them into a weapon against them. Morgana would be jealous." She sighed. "But I accept your apology and offer one of my own."

He snorted when she finished, sounding more tired than he had ever been. "For which part? Your words the other day or tonight?"

"My words the other day. We both could've handled the situation better, but we didn't."

He nodded. "We could have."

"I honestly don't think that you are only obsessed with Aurora. You do actually love her."

He glanced back at her. "Thank you." It was good to hear that she had taken that back. He actually couldn't deny her words any more. Perhaps he had grown to love Aurora for all his denial. "And you're a very good friend, who deserves a man who is worth her time and love."

She smiled. "Tell the Fates that. They seem to only dangle the unattainable or already taken in front of me and enjoy watching me make a complete ass out of myself."

"The Fates are dunderheads."

"They are. They need to stop sticking their noses in our business." She snorted.

"Agreed." He then attempted to sit up, groaning and falling back when he failed.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Nowhere, obviously," he replied miserably.

"Obviously," she replied before taking pity on him and grabbing another pillow and helping him to prop himself up. "I've been charged with babysitting the two of you and making sure you stay put. I was even given permission by the lovely healer to stick you to your bed since you are prone to sneaking out of here when her back is turned."

"Thanks." He then frowned as he thought on what she had said. "Aurora is here then?"

"No, she just brushed off the surge of magical energy the two of you created and skipped merrily down the stairs and out of the castle." She rolled her eyes. "Yes, she's here."

He briefly glared at her. "I was merely asking a question."

"Ask a stupid question, and you get an equally stupid answer."

"So I see."

"Care to share with the rest of the class what happened?" She glanced at the office door Pomfrey had disappeared through. "Everyone either doesn't know or they don't like to share."

"I don't know. I noticed that Aurora was acting unlike herself. I attempted to pull her back, but . . . it wasn't her, Demetri. We should have noticed. _I_ should have noticed."

Demetri nodded. "I know. She seemed off the other day at the bar too, but I just thought it was stress from whatever it was Dumbledore had her doing." She shook her head. "I found out earlier her mother died in an attack on their family Manor."

He nodded. "In June. She's been dosing herself ever since to not feel."

"Dosing herself . . ." She glanced at the privacy screen that blocked off her view from the other witch. "With what?"

"Bliss and Dreamless. At least those two are the ones she admitted to me."

"Are you fucking serious?" Demetri glared at him before turning her gaze back to the curtain. "She knows damned well what Bliss can do, let alone mixing it with other potions. Hell, she ripped me a new one our first year of university for brewing it for my Potions final exam because I made a joke about taking it myself to see if I had brewed it right." She shook her head and closed her eyes to calm herself before speaking again. "You two are two of a kind. One hides their emotions behind vitriol and snark, pushing people away and keeping them at arm's length, and the other hides at the bottom of a potions bottle. It has to be a British thing "

He inhaled deeply. "Ouch."

"The truth hurts. "

"A version of it at least."

"Oh? And what would your version be? Because from where I'm sitting, my version is pretty spot on." She sighed. "You are not only hurting yourselves but those around you as well."

"I haven't done anything."

She raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I haven't!"

She sighed. "If you say so."

"I do say so."

"I'm not saying you've done anything to attribute to what she's going through. You do, however, like to lash out instead of let people in. That makes it hard for people to want to open up to you."

"But I'm honest about that," he argued. "It's not like that's new."

"It also makes it harder for people to want to seek you out for comfort or with their problems and concerns."

"Are you honestly blaming me for this?"

"No. I'm blaming both of us. I've had my head up my own ass to see something was wrong. Aurora is too goddamned stubborn to admit something was bothering her, and you are, well, you. In other words, I'm blaming us for letting her get so far gone before we noticed something was wrong."

He looked away guiltily. Demetri was right. They both had missed the signs. They had stood by as Aurora slowly poisoned herself. He couldn't deny that. It'd be a lie if he did. He had been so focused on his own problems that he had turned a blind eye to hers.

"I'm sorry," Demetri whispered, pulling him from his thoughts as she picked at the sleeve of her robes. "I've been sitting here for hours chastising myself about being a shit friend."

He turned back. "For what? You didn't blow up your tower."

"For not knowing her mother had died and for not being there for her."

"I learned from McGonagall earlier tonight. So I'm in the same boat as you."

Demetri smiled faintly. "Yeah, well, I learned it from a vampire that I ran into on the way down to Hogsmeade. He's a family friend of hers, I guess."

"Declan I think Minerva said," Severus stated with a frown.

Demetri nodded slowly, picking at her robes some more. The silence seemed to draw on forever before she finally spoke again. "What happened? On the tower between you and Aurora?"

"Her magic reacted to me," he started to say, "thinking I was a threat to her."

"Why would she think you were a threat?"

"I don't know. I was pushing her to confront something, and she wasn't ready to."

"Confront what? I mean, you two nearly killed each other, Severus. Not to mention, you caused a lot of damage to the Astronomy tower. So, confront what?"

"How reckless she was being. How selfish her taking Bliss was. That I love her even when she's being a complete idiot and trying to poison herself as a result. She didn't want to hear it."

"If you were being your normal charming self while confronting her, I can't say I blame her for not wanting to listen."

"Perfect. Thank you for your opinion," he drawled.

"You know what they say about opinions." She snorted when he glared at her. "Maybe now she'll listen and allow one or both of us to help her."

"Hardly. She's been taking it for months, Dem. She doesn't have a care in the world."

"Then she'll have to deal with me literally sitting on her if I have to in order to get her to listen."

He half-laughed tiredly.

"You look tired. I should let you get back to sleep."

He shook his head, though. "It's fine. I'm not going to get any sleep anyway."

"I can tell you some bedtime stories then," she teased. "There's one about a young witch who has to keep mentally telling herself students can't be used in potions, no matter how much they piss her off in class."

He chuckled. "I know that story well."

She smiled, nodding. "I can see why you are so testy all the time now. I swear if I get one more 'Why can't I just add the whole root? Why do I have to dice it', I'm gonna let the little shits find out the hard way. And Slughorn is no help."

"Horace? They brought him back?" He groaned, recalling the last time he had spoken to the man. "Watch him closely around the students. He's a collector. Always wanting to attach himself to the next star and doesn't care how he does it."

"He took over for your N.E.W.T level classes, and I'm teaching the first through third years." She shook her head. "Oh I know all about his collecting. The man will not leave me alone. He literally stands outside the bathroom if I duck in there to avid him. I've lent him Morgana's portrait so he'd leave me alone, which is keeping him away from me outside of meals."

"Good for you."

"How in the hell did you become a Master with him as a teacher for seven years anyway? He barely watches what the students are doing, and I am convinced someone in the NEWT class is brewing psychedelic potions. I've had to lock up a few of the ingredients that seem to be disappearing rather quickly."

"Self-taught if I'm honest."

She nodded. "That's usually the way it goes.

He nodded as well. His eyes found its way back to the closed curtain. "Her eyes, Dem. They were red. Tinted from that poison."

"How did we not see it? The tint means she's been taking it longer than we may realize. Maybe since June, but maybe even longer. We should have realized something was wrong."

"I agree, but we didn't."

"So how do we help her now, short of using an Unforgivable to get her to talk to us?"

"I don't know. I tried getting her to remember to feel, to be herself. And, well, you saw how well that ended."

"Yeah I saw. The house elves are a bit mad at the two of you, so heads up if your food is bland or your shirts are wrinkled." She glanced at the curtain. "How did I end up being friends with the two most stubborn people in all of Scotland?"

"Luck obviously."

She snorted. "Obviously."

He smiled.

"I can ask Declan if he has any ideas on how to help."

"You seem to have become quite close with him, haven't you?"

She snorted. "I had one conversation with the vampire," she stated, holding up a finger. "Granted there was flirting involved and a future date in the works, but still. Don't send out the wedding invitations just yet."

"Sounds as if you have, though."

"I have not." She smacked his leg in a sisterly manner. "Though, I wouldn't mind waking up next to him on a daily basis."

He raised a brow at her. "Next to a vampire?" He scoffed. "You'd be on Blood Replenishing the rest of your life."

"Your point?" she asked before laughing at his disgusted look. "It'd never happen, though. He refused my proposition earlier."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

She shrugged. "I'm used to it."

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, I told her I loved her, and the tower exploded." He glanced at Demetri. "Do you think that's a good or bad sign?"

She laughed. She couldn't help it. The way he said it, like a child questioning the existence of St. Nicholas, was so adorably sincere. "It sure as hell beats the whole 'fireworks and birds singing' trope we see in movies." He nodded in agreeance. "I know she loves you, Severus. I've known possibly longer than she has, so maybe it's a good sign."

"You weren't there, Demetri. She argued with me. Said the same thing you did. That I didn't love her. That it's all obsession. And maybe she's right. I don't know what love is. Not truly. The first girl I fell for left me the moment she found someone better, someone who wasn't me. My parents—cats and dogs got along better than them most days. Everyone in my life—no positive there."

"That was the Bliss talking Severus, not her. She was trying to push you away. She told me it's better to stop caring and getting hurt when I told her about our fight. That was not Aurora." She leaned forward in her chair. "You are such an idiot if you think you don't know what love is. I've seen you with Harrison, Severus. And if that wasn't proof enough, well, if you didn't love Aurora, you'd have left a long time ago and you wouldn't be so worried about her as you are now."

He rubbed his face. "What if the damage from the Bliss and the Dreamless doesn't repair?"

"Would you love her any less?"

"No."

"Then it will be something you'd have to work with." Both of them would have to work with.

"It's not fair."

"Since when is anything in life fair?"

"I thought my luck was changing after Harrison came into my life. My father wasn't the man I thought he was. My mother—she—everything was the way it should have been. You know?"

"I do."

"And then curve ball after curve ball."

"Life doesn't like when we get too comfortable."

"I want to be comfortable just once. Just once I don't want it all to go to hell on me."

"It's what we all want, honestly."

He scoffed, shaking his head.

"What? It's true."

"Most of the population hasn't gone through the crap we have."

"That just makes us special."

"If you say so."

"It's easier to think that than to think the Fates are using us as their personal playthings. Isn't it?"

"I doubt they even care."

"Could be.

"I just want it over."

She nodded. "Yeah. It's getting old real fast."

"Indeed."

"If we stop fighting with each other, we could help each other through this shit."

He snorted. "At least until you leave."

She tilted her head. "And why would I leave?"

"Because everyone does eventually."

"No, Severus. You're stuck with me. I'm not going back to America." She shrugged. "I've nothing to go back to if I'm honest."

"So, you're sticking it out with us misfit here?"

"I am."

"Good."

She smiled.

"You'd be missed otherwise."

"Oh, I'm sure." She laughed. "Now rest. Before Dragon lady gets after the both of us."

He nodded before he settled back against his pillow. His head turned towards the closed curtain.

"Severus?"

"Yes?"

"I'm glad nothing happened between us," Demetri said softly. She smiled faintly at him when he turned back to her. "I'd hate to lose you as a friend."

"Likewise." He then sighed heavily, turning back to the curtain again. "Remind me to give Merlin a large mouse with catnip when I get out of here."

"Why?"

He thought about answering her truthfully, but decided against it. She didn't need to know that her cat had interrupted Aurora and his almost-shagging session on her sofa.

"To smooth things over for all the trauma he's likely experienced lately."

Demetri laughed. "If you say so."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're interested in reading the oneshot about Demetri's run-in with Declan, ask Snapeswidow. We wrote it out, and she's going to be posting it (likely over here on Ao3). I'll link it up once she posts it.


	18. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay for the long chapter! I feel like I'm finally starting to get back into my rhythm with this fic again. Can you tell? :) There's a little bit of everything in this chapter: father/son moments, romance, drama, suspense, mystery... lots of sexual tension... haha. Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoy. Thanks.

An unusual cold snap in late April had blanketed Hogwarts for three weeks, causing the students and staff to remain bundled up and inside. It had seemed there would be no relief in sight much to everyone's dismay. That was until two days ago when it finally ended.

So while most of the castle was now enjoying the beautiful, warm spring day outside, the poor souls stuck in fifth-year Double Potions were inside shivering, huddled together around their cauldrons in an attempt to seek out more warmth. Severus had stoked the fire in his classroom at least five times already this morning before his students had shown up, but it was to no avail. The cold was stuck, trapped with them, as the warm air above hadn't made its way down to the dungeons yet . . . and likely wouldn't for at least a week or two.

"Books away," Severus announced sharply, turning to his class. His students glanced at one another in confusion but complied, slipping their books back inside their bags. He couldn't understand their confusion really. He rarely had them rely on their books during practical classes. In fact, he was one who operated under the idea that his students were to read ahead, so they weren't lost when he taught. Of course that was lost on the brats.

"Draught of Peace," he said in a semi-bored tone. "It'll relieve you of any anxiety or agitation you might have. So, seeing as how you're all hormonal brats in a constant state of anxiety, it, therefore, might be prudent if you know how to brew it successfully. If only to spare us adults from your drama." He then leaned back on his heels with his arms crossed, his eyes meeting each of theirs. "However, I must warn you. Dosing yourself with it constantly will make it lose its potency and render it eventually useless. So only take it in emergencies. Say, for your O.W.Ls in a few weeks, hmm?" He then motioned to the directions he had written on the chalkboard. "You have the entire class to brew it. The one who does so successfully first will find him- or herself excused to leave for the rest of the period." He watched their eyes light up in glee at the thought of escaping the cold dungeons. He almost felt bad. "Which will be a miracle, I assure you, if even one of you dunderheads manages to do so without killing the rest of us first." Their happy faces fell a bit. "Well, what are you waiting for? Begin." He then glanced back at his directions, smirking inside. Only a student who had read the assigned material would be able to brew it, he knew, as he had intentionally left off a step.

As he made his way back to the dais where his desk was, Severus found his mind wandering for a bit. Two hours from then, he would be done with his classes for the day and be back with his son who was currently being watched by the house elves. He would take Harrison outside later to enjoy the warmth. In fact, he had planned a picnic for them. He snorted silently. Picnic and Severus were two things that no one would have ever imagined being in the same sentence. But he had changed, grown past the angry boy of his youth.

He sat down at his desk and dipped his quill into his inkpot. His eyes briefly glanced out at the class, taking note of the steam from their various cauldrons, before he returned to marking his sixth-years' essays. It would be at least forty minutes before one of them was close to where he had left off a step, so he had time.

Sure enough, forty-three minutes later, the classroom was rocked by the first flaming cauldron. With a lazy wave of his wand, Severus extinguished the small fire as he moved from his desk. He could see the boy's look of utter dismay and pointed towards the board.

"Did you follow the steps exactly, Mister Reynolds?"

"Yes, sir. I did."

"Obviously not," Severus replied bitingly. "Or else your potion wouldn't have caught on fire."

"But—"

"Read the assigned chapter on Draught of Peace again," he cut in. "Once you finish with that, you will silently sit there and write an essay on where you went wrong. And if you so much as speak to anyone or even think about it, Mister Reynolds, you will be scrubbing my first-years' cauldrons for the remainder of the term. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the young man replied, his shoulders slumping.

Severus turned away from him. Two more cauldrons caught fire five minutes later. He assigned the same to those poor students as well. It wasn't long before nearly half of the class were busy reading instead of brewing and learning that he had tricked them.

He moved to walk in between the tables, glancing in the remaining three students' cauldrons as he did. One of them showed promise. The liquid was at least the right shade for the step the student was on. However, the young witch had just reached the fateful missing step from the directions. He watched her eyes narrow on the chalkboard in confusion before she glanced back to her cauldron.

The other two students' cauldrons both popped, drawing his attention from her. Severus waved away the explosions and leveled a look on the two boys, who groaned and set off to work on reading the essay. By now, he knew everyone knew that he had tricked them. All but her.

"Well, Miss Denza?" he said when she hadn't moved since the remaining cauldrons but hers had exploded. "Your potion isn't going to brew itself after all," he drawled.

"I know that, Professor," she said with a little laugh before she bit her lip and glanced back at the chalkboard. She was flicking her hair tie against her wrist nervously.

"Then why aren't you doing anything?"

"It's just, well, um . . ."

He crossed his arms and stared down at her, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, Miss Denza?"

"You're wrong, sir."

Her classmates gasped around her, staring at her as if they expected him to hex her right then and there. Her head hung in response.

"Excuse me?" he replied deathly quiet. Secretly, he was very proud of her right then.

"You're wrong, sir. Or rather your directions are." She snapped her hair tie against her wrist and drew in a breath before she forced herself to look back up at him. "You forgot to add the powdered moonstone on step fourteen, Professor. It's what gives it a bit of a gray color."

"So I did." He faintly smiled down at her. "Congratulations, Miss Denza. There's hope for you yet. Fifty points to Hufflepuff." He then motioned to her cauldron. "Finish your potion, and then enjoy the rest of your day."

She smiled widely up at him and happily set off to do as ordered. It took about ten more minutes before her potion was finished, a creamy white liquid, and she took her leave.

Fifteen minutes after that, he released the rest of the class, not wanting to subject them anymore to the brutal cold. He watched them leave, snorting when he saw Demetri weave through the wave of students leaving. He was wondering when she would visit today.

"You're missing a step, Severus. It has seventeen, not sixteen."

"Am I?" he replied, waving a hand lazily at the board to remove his writing. "How strange." He heard her laugh and smiled in return. "So, how is she today?"

"Eh, about as well as a porcupine losing its quills, I guess."

He glanced at her sharply. "That well, huh?" He shook his head. When he had seen Aurora last night, she had been all right, able to carry on a conversation at least. He wondered what had happened during her session with Pomfrey earlier.

"She's not saying much again, but she's not fully withdrawn either."

So it wasn't entirely a bad day for her. That was good to hear at least.

"I think the whole being confined to the Hospital Wing is driving her mad."

He snorted. "It'd drive anyone mad being stuck with Pomfrey that long."

"Yeah, anyway, do you want me to watch Harrison for you again?"

He glanced at her and smiled again, shaking his head. "No. Thank you, though, Demetri."

"No problem." She shrugged. "You should get out of here while you still can, though. It's really nice outside."

"So I've heard," he replied with a laugh. "You should take your own advice. Go see that vampire friend of yours again." He chuckled when she rolled her eyes.

"Sunlight, remember? I don't want him to be a crispy critter after all."

"Thankfully, I don't have that problem with any of my friends." He laughed when she lightly punched his shoulder. A moment later, he headed for the door and down the hall towards his rooms. He was thankful when Salazar opened his portrait without a word.

"Dada!" Harrison squealed the moment Severus set foot inside. The young boy launched himself at him, his arms outstretched. Severus caught him and smiled, shaking his head.

"What have I said about jumping off the sofa, brat?"

"Not to," Harrison replied sullenly, his head hanging.

"Yes, because I don't want you to crack your head open or worse. I love you too much for that." He kissed his son's forehead, sighing when he saw the sticky residue on his robes. He glanced at the wincing house elf who had enough sense to snap its fingers and disappear a moment later. "What have you been into, brat?"

"Not'ing."

"What have I said about lying?"

Harrison sighed heavily. "I's hungry, Dada."

Severus then saw the mess and sighed heavily. Harrison had been trying to eat pancakes. It hadn't gone well, as there were bits of pancakes everywhere. With a wave of his hand, he vanished the mess, thankful that he didn't have to clean that up the Muggle way.

"All right, brat. Let's get you cleaned up." Harrison rested his head against Severus's shoulder, and they made their way towards the bathroom.

"Athtime?"

"Yes, so we can go outside and play." And get dirty all over again. He set Harrison down beside him as he drew his son's bath, making sure the water wasn't too hot for the boy. A few minutes later, when he turned towards him, he found that Harrison had already stripped down to everything but his socks. "Socks too."

"But, Dada!"

"No. Socks off too." When he saw the socks fly a moment later, he shook his head. Why the boy always insisted on wearing his socks during bath time was beyond him. He gently helped him into the tub, raising a brow when Harrison immediately blew bubbles at him. Cheeky brat.

"Dada?"

"Yes?"

"Are you gonna see Muma 'ater?"

Severus paused in mid-scrub and glanced at his little boy. He wasn't stupid. He knew that Harrison was talking about Aurora. But to hear that question . . . and spoken from him. He didn't know how to respond, so he just watched his son for a few moments in stunned silence.

The boy was a packaged deal after all. So, if they truly were going to have a relationship down the line, she needed to accept Harrison just as much as she accepted him. Not that he thought she wouldn't. She was like Harrison in that regard, accepting all strays as if they were family. And yet as he thought back on it, he had kept Harrison away from her, choosing to visit her after he put Harrison down for the night in fact.

"I'll probably see Aurora tonight, yes," Severus finally said. "Why? Does that bother you?" Maybe that was why the boy had brought it up.

Harrison shook his head, though. "No." With wet hands, he gently grabbed Severus's face, leaving behind a few bubbles. "You love her, Dada, and you're sad when she's not here. And I don't want you sad, Dada."

Sad when Aurora wasn't there? Where on Earth did the boy get that from? His eyes narrowed on him before he gently pulled Harrison's hands off his face.

"I miss her, yes, but it doesn't make me sad, though, Harrison."

"Oh."

Indeed. Severus shook his head and sighed. "Where is all of this coming from, brat?" He watched his son's face scrunch up in confusion. "Why do you think I'm sad?"

"Cause you come back smilin' after. You think I'm sleepin' but I'm not. I wait until you're back and then I sleep," Harrison answered honestly.

"Why?"

Harrison's eyes darted to the floor.

"Why do you wait until I'm back and then sleep?" Severus asked, gently pushing his son's chin up so the boy would look at him again.

The little boy shrugged, chewing his bottom lip, though.

"Harrison, answer me. Why do you wait until I'm back to sleep?"

"Cause."

"Because why?"

Harrison sniffled, his eyes glancing away with tears in them.

"Child, look at me." Severus lowered his voice in what he hoped was a non-threatening manner.

"Cause I don't want to lose you, Dada," the sweet boy declared before he burst into tears.

Lose him? Why would Harrison lose him? He frowned, rubbing the boy's back gently. When it seemed as if that wasn't doing any good, he pulled the boy into his lap, closing his eyes when Harrison fiercely hugged him as if he thought Severus would be gone right then.

"Hush. I'm right here. Everything's fine," Severus murmured, rubbing the boy's back still and holding him close. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise. I'm right here, Harrison. Right here with you."

"Promise?" the tear-filled boy cried, sniffling and rubbing his nose on his sleeve, much to Severus's disgust.

"Promise, brat. You're stuck with me." He brushed back Harrison's hair and offered the boy a soft smile. "I don't know if you know this about me, but I love for life. It's a bit overwhelming for some, I admit, but once I love you, I never stop. And I never leave."

Harrison sniffled again. "Good. Cause I love you too," he whispered. "And I don't want the green light to take you too from me, Dada!"

"Green light?" Severus's eyes narrowed before he brushed back the boy's hair again. His eyes met Harrison's, as he turned his wrist so his wand would slip into his hand. " _Legilimens_ ," he murmured, finding himself thrown into Harrison's young mind a moment later.

It took a bit as he was being extra cautious, but he soon found the memory of this green light that Harrison was talking about.

" _Not Harry! Not Harry! Please—I'll do anything!"_

" _Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!" (_ page 239 **Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban** _)_

Severus withdrew the moment he heard the fateful Unforgivable hissed from his old puppet master's lips followed by the thud of a body. He inhaled sharply, his eyes closing as he forced his emotions back. Harrison was recalling Lily's death. He should have known.

Sighing heavily, he pressed another kiss against Harrison's forehead. What this little boy had gone through already in his young life . . .

"I'm sorry, Harrison. I'm so sorry," Severus whispered, rubbing the boy's back as he held him. It was no wonder the boy was terrified of his leaving. He was recalling his true parents' deaths. A thought then occurred to him, and he reopened his eyes, staring at the sniffling boy who looked utterly miserable. Severus's future self had wanted the boy to have a better life. So far, that had happened, but if he allowed the boy to continue to remember his parents' deaths, ultimately, it would negatively affect the boy's emotional wellbeing. "Harrison, do you trust me?" With no hesitation whatsoever, the little boy nodded. "I'm going to press my wand against your head for a second, all right? And all that light stuff, it'll go away. Okay?"

"Like forever?"

It was a valid question. Was it Severus's right to take that memory from the boy forever?

"No, son. Just until you're old enough, all right?" Harrison nodded slowly, chewing on his bottom lip again. Severus summoned a vial and then pressed his wand gently against the boy's temple. He closed his eyes and silently drew the memory from the boy's mind. He watched the silvery strands wrap around his wand as he collected it before he deposited it into the vial. "When you're old enough, I'll return this to you. I promise."

Harrison nodded before he nuzzled against Severus again. He would put Harrison's memory next to his own sets and keep it safe for the boy until then. When the boy was ready to know the truth.

"What do you say to you and me having a picnic outside today with Aurora?" If Pomfrey released her that was, which was asking for a miracle really. However, if it happened, it'd be good for all of them. Surely, even Pomfrey could see that.

"Icnic?"

"Yes, it's where you eat sandwiches and other things outside on a blanket." A rather simple explanation, he supposed, but one that he was sure Harrison understood. In fact, he knew that anytime the boy heard the word 'outside' that he was all for it. "All right then. Let's finish your bath, and get you dressed again."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Severus walked through the doors to the Hospital Wing holding Harrison in one arm and a picnic basket in another. His son was now dressed in a cute outfit Demetri had given them awhile back. He could tell his son was on his best behavior and smiled inwardly as a result of it. He really did have a truly great boy.

"I need to speak with Madam Pomfrey for a moment to get permission. Do you think you can be really quiet and sit here guarding the basket while I do this?" He watched Harrison nod, knowing that there was no way in hell the boy would be able to sit there and not move in that time. He set the basket down beside a chair. "I'll be right in there," he motioned to Pomfrey's office, "if you need me."

"Okay." Harrison hopped up into one of the chairs and swung his legs back and forth. He was curiously looking around the wing.

Severus shook his head, though, and knocked on the matron's office door before he stepped inside a moment later when he heard her soft 'Enter'. He caught her eye instantly when she looked up from a chart she had been reading.

"Professor Snape." She then glanced up at the clock. "You're early today."

He inclined his head to her. "I was wondering if it might be possible to ask if you could release Aurora for a few hours today," he said quietly. He noticed her instant disapproval and decided to use his son to get his request approved. "My son was hoping we could take her on a picnic."

"A picnic?" Pomfrey crossed her arms and scoffed. "Well, I suppose it's not the worst idea."

"Is that a yes then?" he replied.

"If she feels up to it, then, yes, you may. However, as I'm certain you're aware—"

"I'll watch her, Madam," he cut in, already knowing what she was going to say. "If she starts to become upset, I'll bring her back."

"Straight back, Severus," the matron firmly emphasized, pointing at him.

"Of course. I'll bring her straight back. You have my word."

"Two hours. That's all I'm allowing. If she's not back here—"

"She will be."

Pomfrey sighed loudly and then motioned for him to go, which he did. He quietly closed the door behind him and glanced at the chair, raising a brow at Harrison who had somehow managed to get himself dirty again.

"I thought I told you to sit there quietly and not move, brat?"

"I didn't."

"Then how did you get dirty again?"

Harrison shrugged. "I'm special?"

Severus snorted, rolling his eyes. "Obviously." He held his hand out while he gently picked up the basket again.

"Did she say yes?"

"She did."

Harrison broke into a brilliant smile.

Together, the two headed towards the private room in the back where Severus knew she was. He briefly considered asking Harrison to stay outside for a moment while he spoke with her, but, ultimately, he decided against this. She wasn't a danger. He slowly turned the doorknob and stepped inside with Harrison at his side a moment later.

With her knees pulled up to her chest, Aurora had her back to them as she looked out the window from her bed. Her curls were messy and needed a good brush through them. But love was blind, so Severus didn't even notice that.

"Morning, Aurora," Severus quietly said, trying to gain her attention. "I thought maybe you'd like to join us on a picnic today? I'm told it's rather warm outside." He gradually approached her.

She slowly turned to him. Her eyes narrowed briefly before she glanced at Harrison. A soft smile tugged at her lips.

"A picnic?"

"Before you start to think I've gone entirely mad, I've already run it past Pomfrey. She approved, but we only have two hours before she calls the Aurors and has me arrested for kidnapping." He watched her laugh tiredly, running a hand through her hair.

"I see."

"Do you feel up to it?"

Her eyes met his. "Up to escaping this place for a few hours with you? Always."

"Excellent. We'll let you get dressed then." She grabbed his arm when he moved to leave. He glanced back at her puzzled.

"Thank you."

He inclined his head with a faint smile. "Of course." He then took his leave with Harrison.

When she stepped out of the room a moment later, her long dark curls had been swept up into a neat up-do. She was no longer wearing the patient gown, but instead a simple sundress and a pair of sandals. She looked very relaxed again, like herself.

"Is this okay? I couldn't think—"

"It's perfect," he replied at once, noticing Harrison's giggles a moment later. He glanced down at the brat and caught his son's 'cat who swallowed the canary' look. "Shall we?" he asked, turning back to her with his arm out for her. She smiled shyly in response and nodded.

Harrison walked in front of them, rather skipped Severus decided after a moment.

"He seems happy today," she said quietly as they headed for the entrance hall.

"He does." He then glanced at her. "And how about you? How are you feeling?" She turned to him and rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine. Well, as fine as someone like me can be." She sighed softly, turning away. "Pomfrey thinks I finally finished breaking down all of the Bliss inside me. And I'm not feeling nothing anymore, so I guess that's good. I guess."

"Demetri thought you might be having a bit of a bad day today."

"Why? Because I told her to stop psychoanalyzing me? Well, forgive me for not wanting anyone else in my head. I'm only stuck with Poppy twenty-four/seven." Her voice had risen just a bit.

"I can understand why that would be frustrating."

"What are you doing, Severus?" she asked quietly, grabbing his arm to stop him. "Really? What is this? An elaborate ruse for you to get inside my head too? Because if that's what—"

"No. It's not. I thought the fresh air would do you some good. Honest."

She released him and sighed, starting to follow Harrison again who had gotten a little bit ahead of them now.

"You don't need to sit with me every night," she quietly said.

"If I'm suffocating you by being there every night, I'll—"

"It's not that."

"Then what?" he asked, falling in step with her. He kept his eyes trained on his son who had thankfully slowed down in his happy skipping. The boy was likely still out of earshot of their conversation. "Please. Tell me so I can change it."

"I . . . Severus, I don't . . . never mind."

"No. Please. Speak to me." It was his turn now to grab her arm gently to stop her. "Please?"

She turned to look at Harrison who was blissfully unaware that they had stopped again. "It's stupid, but—my feelings for you haven't changed."

"Nor have mine," he replied, holding her hands in his.

"You have a son, Severus. A little boy who loves you. Whose whole world revolves around his dad. He needs you, all of you."

"And you think I'm not giving him this?"

"How can you when I'm constantly pulling you away from him?"

"You may not be aware of this, but I have enough regard and care for the both of you," he replied with an amused look. "You can say I'm talented in that way. Able to care for more than just one person, I mean."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it."

He sighed quietly. She was right. He did. "Aurora, you are not pulling me away from Harrison. Loving you does not make it so I love him any less. I assure you that I have enough love in this black heart of mine for the both of you."

"You don't love me, though."

"No?" He waited until she looked back up at him. "Harrison told me just a little bit ago while he was taking a bath that I seem sad before our talks but always come back smiling. There's that. Then there's a few months back where I thought I had slept with Demetri and had been so distraught by that news because I knew it would be a betrayal to you. A betrayal, Aurora. Then before that we have our kisses, intoxicating to the point of madness. Before that, we have you not being at Hogwarts because you were off doing something for Dumbledore concerning me. I don't think I need to remind you that I felt lonely, rejected, angry that I wouldn't see you this year, that you were staying away."

"Severus—"

"I love you, Aurora. I couldn't say it before, but I can now. I know what I feel for you isn't obsession. I mean, I may get jealous when I see you speaking to another male, but I'm working on it. It's a weakness on my part, a flaw."

She opened her mouth, but he continued.

"I know you're healing from things that you cannot yet talk about, but I'm here right beside you. And I'm not leaving. I'm not going to let you go through this alone. You never allowed me to in all the years we've known one another, so I'll damned if I allow you to. It may have taken me awhile, but I do see you, Aurora." He lifted his hand up to cup her cheek. "I do." He watched her close her eyes and turn her head to press her cheek against his palm even more.

It was in these moments that he knew the Aurora he had briefly known was still there.

"We better hurry up, or Harrison is going to start eating grass," Severus quietly spoke, his eyes darting to see that his son was quite a few lengths in front of them now.

"Eating grass?" she laughed, reopening her eyes.

"He sometimes believes he's a cow or dog or something. I'm just glad it's not dirt."

She smiled warmly and linked her arm back with his.

The moment they stepped outside a few minutes later, Harrison turned back with a wide grin.

"Dada, it's warm!"

"That it is," he said with a chuckle as he and Aurora approached the giggling boy who was now spinning around in a circle in the sunlight.

"You'd think he never saw the sun by the way he's acting."

"It's likely the warmth that has him so happy."

"Oh?"

"The cold air is stuck down in the dungeons currently. No matter what I try to do, I can't get it to vanish fully. I've tried burning large fires in the fireplaces, but all the warmth escapes out the chimneys instead. And warming spells are only getting us so far."

"Have you informed Minerva?"

He nodded. "She stated that she would have the elves work on it, and they've tried. Short of draining the lake and allowing the sun to shine, we've tried everything."

"Maybe you should hold classes outside then."

"Yes, because that would go so well," he drawled.

"At least if they blow anything up, it's outside," she offered. "So you wouldn't need to repair the castle anymore."

"Or they could at least, you know, read the material before they enter my class."

She laughed softly. "You expect too much from them. They're hormonal adolescents who are honestly just thinking about who is good at snogging and who isn't."

"Now, who's the cynic?" he quipped.

"I learned from the best," she replied with a laugh, patting his arm.

* * *

Laying back in the grass, Severus stared up at sky forty minutes later. Aurora had seemed more like herself than she had in months. In fact, if he didn't have such a good memory, he might have forgotten the whole Bliss episode they were dealing with. He turned towards her when he heard her soft laughs beside him. Pushing himself up slightly onto his elbows, he followed her gaze. She was watching Harrison chase after yet another butterfly. She glanced at him a moment later.

"How are you parents settling in anyway?" she asked, resting a hand against him. "I heard they had decided to make Ashmore their permanent residence now."

He shrugged in response, not having expected that question from her. "I don't know. They seem happy about it. It gives them a clean start at least and makes sure Dad doesn't have any accidental magic incidents around Muggles."

"Is he still getting used to the whole magic thing?"

"Sort of. He's figuring out at least that magic can't solve everything."

"Yeah." Her voice trailed off as her eyes moved to stare off.

"So, did Demetri tell you that she's hopelessly in love with your vampire friend?" he suddenly asked with a forced chuckle. He needed to get her mind off her obvious troubling thoughts.

"What?" She turned to look at him with a confused smile.

"Declan. She met him awhile back and fell for him. They appear to be quite cozy with one another, I guess."

"Well, she'll get her heart broken with him. He unfortunately is happily married or bonded as he likes to call it. Not that he doesn't flirt with all of us ladies from a time or two."

He nodded, wondering briefly if Demetri was aware of that. "I didn't know that you had grown up around vampires."

"Oh, yes." She laughed again, turning back to him. "There was a clan that lived at the manor. They'd help out from time to time. My grandfather—or maybe it was my great-grandfather—I forget which had offered them a place to stay when the whole world was rounding vampires up. They had been kicked out or something from their original coven. I don't know the whole story. I just—I don't know—didn't think anything of it growing up."

"And they never once attacked you?"

"Attacked me?" she repeated softly. "Oh, Circe, no. They'd rather die than attack a human, let alone me. That wasn't to say they didn't have the occasional blood lust, but they stuck to animals when it came to feeding."

He nodded before he lowered his voice and leaned towards her. "When we were together a few months back, I couldn't help but notice a bite mark." He watched her bite her bottom lip and blush, turning away from him. "Is that where you got that particular . . . fetish from?"

"Probably. I mean, you grow up around vampires, it's bound to happen, right?"

He chuckled, brushing back a stray curl of hers that had fallen. "I suppose."

"Declan was my first kiss," she admitted quietly with a soft laugh.

He nodded, listening to her before he glanced at Harrison to check on the boy. "Harrison! Put that down now!" he shouted when he saw that boy had a handful of grass in his hand. When he was satisfied that his son wasn't going to eat it, he turned back, noticing Aurora's look. "I apologize for interrupting. Please . . . continue."

She smiled. "No it's fine. It doesn't matter."

"It does. I want to hear about it. To learn more about you. I just wish my son hadn't decided right then to eat grass."

She laughed. "All right, well, I was fourteen or fifteen at the time. We had been training—or rather me using him as target practice for a few hexes which was his idea mind you, not mine, and I just thought what the hell and kissed him. I mean, he is rather gorgeous, what with his whole god-like chiseled body thing he has going on." Her laughter increased as she likely recalled that memory. "He didn't know how to react to it. First and only time, I managed to stun him into silence. Mother was so angry when she learned the truth. I couldn't train with him after that."

"She was likely trying to keep you safe."

"Yeah. Probably." Aurora shrugged, her attention returning to Harrison. "He's such a sweet boy, Severus. So full of love and energy. You're very lucky to have him."

"I know."

"Aurora?" a voice suddenly spoke behind them.

Severus turned around and frowned when he saw Jeremy Ross, the current Defense against the Dark Arts professor, slowly approach them. It was rare that the man would interrupt like this or even be outside, but he supposed the man was just glad to see that Aurora was out of the hospital wing and laughing. She was beloved by the majority of the staff after all. Severus waited for her to reply, his frown deepening when she suddenly grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"I thought that was you. So glad to see you're finally better." Jeremy then glanced to Severus, seemingly unaware that Aurora was now digging her nails into Severus's hand. "Of course with him around, I'd expect nothing less. Let's hope he's always around, hmm?" The man then bowed his head to them respectively. "You should go inside soon. I hear a storm's approaching. Hate for any of you to be caught up in it." Jeremy took his leave then, heading back to the castle.

Severus glanced up at the sky and frowned. It was still sunny with maybe a few clouds, but nothing like a storm rolling in. He then looked down at his hand.

"Aurora?" She was still clutching his hand tightly. "Is everything okay?"

"What?" She blinked and finally tore her gaze from the Defense professor's retreating back.

"Is everything okay?" he repeated softly.

"Yeah." She laughed awkwardly, pulling her hand back from his. "I just—I don't know—got a bad feeling when he was talking to us. Like—I don't know how to describe it—but evil."

"Jeremy Ross?" The man was a bit odd, Severus would admit, but no more than Filius somedays. In fact, the man seemed more scared of his own shadow than anything else. But the man was smart and talented when it came to defensive spells. At least he seemed competent, but he clearly wouldn't last long. Defense professors never did at Hogwarts after all. "If you'd like, I can watch him for you. Make sure he's not up to anything nefarious."

"Would you?" She then shook her head when he seemed surprised. "No. Actually, don't do that. It's probably just nerves or something. I'm sure he's fine. After all, Minerva is not Albus. She's usually a pretty good judge of character, and, you know, she actually cares about her students."

"Unlike Albus," he offered, seeing her nod.

"Right." She slowly pushed herself up off the ground, which he followed suit. "Maybe, though, we should go inside. Get me back to Poppy in plenty of time so more of these . . . dates can happen."

"Dates?" he repeated with a coy smile. "Do you consider this a date, Aurora?" he teased.

"Oh, well, I . . . um . . ."

He held up a hand, chuckling. "While it wasn't my original plan, I can see it as one, though. A third date, I believe," he stated with a mischievous grin. "And you know what occurs on third dates?" He was rewarded with her light, airy laughs.

"You're incorrigible."

"Yes, but you still love me anyway." He briefly looked towards Harrison, satisfied that the boy was not paying attention to them, and quickly leaned forward to steal a kiss from Aurora. He missed her lips, though, kissing her ear instead as she had sharply turned from him at the last moment.

"Severus!" she laughed, lightly slapping his arm again. "Stop. Your son is right there."

"I know, and he's not paying a bit of attention to us."

She rolled her eyes but turned her head to him. His lips brushed across hers, and the electricity from before returned with a fury. She was as intoxicating as a two-hundred-year-old bottle of elf-wine. His fingers ran through her hair, brushing back a few more curls before they all came tumbling down upon her shoulders. She laughed against his lips, her eyes alight.

"I love you," he murmured against her soft lips, his forehead then pressing against hers.

"So you keep saying," she replied, still laughing quietly.

He pulled back and caught her eyes. "And I'm going to keep saying it until you believe me. Until there is no doubt in your mind that you are the only woman I will ever love."

She snorted, clearly not believing him. "Yeah, well, this woman you love has some serious flaws that she's working through obviously. I'm not the perfect loving angel of a woman you think I am, Severus. I've lost quite a few feathers from my wings lately."

He nodded slowly. "No more than I have over the years," he replied. "Which just proves my point. We belong together."

She lightly bumped her shoulder against his. "My, aren't you laying it on rather thick today?"

"Well, it's my understanding that you've always wanted to be wooed like those ridiculous trashy romance novels of yours," he said with a shrug. "So, woo I shall do. In fact, I'm going to woo the hell out of you, Aurora."

She burst out laughing, covering her mouth as she giggled. "All right then. At least you have goals set for this."

He turned back, a hand snaking around her back. Harrison was still happily chasing butterflies without a care in the world. Sometimes Severus wondered about the boy. He truly did.

"Severus?" she said quietly beside him a few moments later.

"Yes?"

"We're not them. You do realize that, right? I mean, if you're doing all of this because—"

"I'm not." He moved to stand in front of her, so she'd see the truth in his words. "I'm not doing this because it's what happened in that timeline. I'm not. I'm doing this, wanting to share my life with yours, because it's how I feel. I know we're not like them anymore. Theirs and our paths diverged radically thanks to his interferences. He didn't see her, though, Aurora, until it was too late. So having that bit of information, I'm using it as a sort of a lesson I guess. I don't want to live my life so cautiously anymore that I miss the people worth caring for. That I miss the moments that matter. The people that matter." She nodded slowly. "He put everyone else before him. In his mind, he was beyond saving. That is he believed his life no longer mattered because of his mistakes. And from what I know about her, she was the one always trying to get him to see that thinking was horribly messed up. That he mattered and that there was more to life than just making up for his mistake. I've learned that." He pointed towards the happily dancing boy in front of them. "Harrison taught me that. That I was worth something, that I mattered. That I needed to forgive myself for what happened and move on. And I have. It's why I'm able to tell you over and over until you believe it that I love you, because I do. Because I am ready to move on fully and love again."

"Maybe it isn't just words for you anymore," she remarked softly.

"It's not."

"We should take this slow. You know, for Harrison? So he doesn't get too attached if something goes wrong and it doesn't work."

Severus snorted but inclined his head. His son was already referring to her as mum. The boy was already attached it was safe to say.

"If that's what you wish. Just let's not go too slow, all right?" he said quietly.

Her eyebrows kitted together. "Um, well, considering several months ago, you and I nearly shagged on Dem's couch, pretty sure we're not going _that_ slow. Remember?"

"No. Not really." He shrugged. "I had one witch plying me with all the alcohol she could find and another who had given me Bliss, so I was rather intoxicated that night." He smiled at her when he saw her wince.

"Not my best night."

"No, but we're moving on, remember? We're going to let the past remain there, and look towards the future."

"Yes, but the present was undone."

"Was is the keyword there. We've corrected it. We're continuing to correct it. So there's hope. Isn't that what you always say?"

She shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know. It sounds like me I guess."

He chuckled. His eyes returned to Harrison who was now rolling around in the grass. He couldn't be sure what the boy was doing honestly. But just like that, the boy shot up and headed after yet another butterfly.

"Severus?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

His head turned back to her. "For what?"

"For sitting with me every night. You didn't have to do that, especially not after what I did." She motioned to the Astronomy tower that had almost been restored entirely over the past few months.

He sighed quietly before he grabbed her hand, knitting his fingers together with hers. "Aurora, you weren't in your right state of mind. You were still avoiding the trauma of losing your mother and sister and nearly your father. I can understand why you'd want to escape reality for a little while. To not feel anything. I tried that as well a few times, not Bliss of course, but I can understand. You weren't ready to talk, to let anyone in. I should have been watching you better. We all should have."

"It's not your job to, Severus."

"You're my friend, and you were hurting, Aurora," he argued. "So, I should have. And now, if I might be so bold to say this, it's more important than ever that I make sure you're all right, that if something's bothering you that, we discuss it and fix it." When she looked at him puzzled, he added, "Unless I haven't been clear with you, which if so I apologize, but I'm wanting to make our relationship official. That is to say, I . . ." His throat closed up unexpectedly as his mouth had suddenly gone dry. He cleared his throat with an embarrassed laugh before he started again. "That is to say, I would very much like to . . ." Why was this so damn hard to spit out?

"Yes?" she urged, wearing a look that proved she knew very well what he was asking.

"Engage in a, um, romantic relationship with you."

Her hand covered her mouth again as she tried to hide her laughter.

He frowned in response. It wasn't _that_ funny.

"I see," she said through soft laughs.

"However, if you continue with your foolishness, I'll rescind my offer." That sent her into a fit of hysteria. "It's not that funny!" he groused, noticing that Harrison had finally turned towards them.

"You make romance seem so . . . business-like, Severus. I can't help it." She shook her head, wiping a tear that had managed to form during her laughing fit. "I mean, when we actually have sex, are you going to be like 'Aurora, I wish to procreate with you."

He drew in a sharp breath, semi-insulted by her impression of him, before he took a step toward her. "If you must know, witch," he replied, his voice lowering into a husky whisper, "it'd be much more like, 'Take off your damn clothes now or I'll rip them off you, woman." When he saw her swallow and shudder, he blinked in surprise. Had he honestly just said that aloud?

"Oh."

He took a step back from her and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He was usually in much better control of his emotions, his actions. Though, lately, his control was fleeting most days. He would have to watch himself more closely.

"Aurora, I—" His words were cut off by a plump drop of something hitting him on the cheek. He frowned before he brought a hand up hesitantly. If it was bird crap again, he was going to find the offending owl and hex it. Well, not really on second thought. However, when he glanced at his fingers, he found a clear liquid.

"Severus?"

Another large drop then hit his arm. He glanced up at the sky. When had it become cloudy? When Harrison shrieked a moment later, his head whipped towards his son, half-expecting the boy to be injured or worse. However, the boy was running towards him, seemingly fine.

More raindrops then splashed down before the heavens finally opened up and blanketed the entire grounds in a sudden and heavy downpour. Severus heard the shrieks from the others who had been caught out in it but paid little attention to them. He quickly gathered up their belongings and Harrison before he and Aurora rushed across the grounds. Harrison's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck in a bone-crushing manner.

After a few minutes of sprinting, Severus kicked open the door to the castle and motioned for Aurora inside. He quickly followed in after her and was grateful that she headed down to the dungeons and not up the moving staircases to the hospital wing. He fell in step beside her, and together they headed towards Salazar's portrait that guarded his rooms.

"Good heavens!" Salazar exclaimed when they finally reached him. "What happened to you three? Peeves didn't decide to flood the castle again, did he?"

"Just open it already, will you?" Severus replied annoyed. Once again, he allowed Aurora to enter first and followed her. He winced when he saw the wet trail behind her. She was soaked to the bone. Then again, so was Harrison . . . and him for that matter. He sighed apologetically.

"Go. I'm fine, Severus," Aurora replied to his unspoken words.

Setting down the picnic basket, he nodded, pausing briefly to kiss her cheek which resulted in an eyeroll and smile from her. He then set off towards Harrison's rooms. The boy's grip had loosened somewhat, but the boy still had a firm grip on him. He continued rubbing Harrison's back gently.

"All right, brat. Let's get these—" As he moved to set the boy down, he noticed then that Harrison was fast asleep. He chuckled quietly and shook his head. "Magic it is then." He laid Harrison down on top of his bed, pulling out the covers. He then pulled out his wand, waving it over the sleeping boy. All of the water was sucked up into Severus's wand, leaving Harrison completely dry. Another wave of his wand, and the boy's outfit had been changed into his pajamas. In turn, the sweet boy rolled over, pulling his stuffed bear closer to him to snuggle. Sliding his wand back into his holster, he smiled down at his sweet, little boy and pulled up the covers to tuck him in. He gently ruffled his son's hair. "Goodnight, brat."

"Night, Dada," Harrison sleepily murmured.

Severus then took his leave, shutting the door behind him. The boy would likely sleep through the entire night for once.

"I apologize about that," the young twenty-two-year-old declared as he walked into his sitting room. He stopped when he saw her standing near the fireplace shivering. Her sundress was dangerously clinging to her, leaving nothing to his imagination unfortunately. He licked his lips. His mind was full of deliciously naughty ideas. "Um, feel free to use my shower to warm up. It's back there," he stated, motioning down the hall towards his bedroom. He truly hoped his voice wasn't betraying how much she was affecting him right then. "I'll have the elves bring you some clean clothes to change into."

"Or you could use your wand. You are a wizard after all, Severus," she replied with a laugh.

"No." When he noticed her instant confusion, he winced. That was very stupid of him. "I . . . misplaced it." Or rather didn't trust himself to use his wand on her right then.

"Oh. Well, I guess I could go back to the hospital wing then."

"You still have an hour, though." Or rather forty-five minutes according to his clock.

"Yes, but if we're going to do this again, I need to stay in Pomfrey's good graces. And you're likely tired too." She smiled sadly. "It's fine, Severus. I'll just go."

"I'm not," he argued. "I could be up for hours. All night in fact." Why had he just said that? Merlin, he was an idiot. He peeked a glance through his long hair to look at her.

She smiled faintly and nodded. "All right then. If you're sure. You said it was back there?"

He nodded, his voice having thoroughly left him now. He watched her leave, letting his head bang against the cold stone wall the moment she disappeared behind his bedroom door. This was like fourth-year Charms all over again. Only instead of Evans, it was Aurora he was making an arse out of himself for. But, dear Merlin, was she beautiful.

He sighed heavily when he heard the faint sounds of the shower running. He turned to deal with the basket when an image suddenly popped into his mind. He inhaled sharply and shook his head to get rid of it. Thinking about Aurora right then was not a good idea. He drew his wand and magically dried the soaked blanket. Once he was satisfied, he folded it up and headed towards his bedroom to put it away. He paused when he noticed his bathroom door was slightly open (when it shouldn't be) and that there was a figure standing there. He knew he should have excused himself again, but he couldn't.

"Hi."

"Hello," he said numbly, forcing his eyes to remain locked on hers. His mother would have hexed his backside if he even so much as moved his eyes to her chin in this matter. Respecting women was something Eileen had always tried to instill on him.

"I had a really nice time today."

"Me too." In fact, the day had been perfect. Except for the unexpected downpour that was.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, likely trying to form the right words to speak, before she sighed, a hand running through her curls nervously. "Did you mean what you said earlier?"

Which part, he wondered. Ripping her clothes off? Loving her? Forgiving himself? Wondering why his son was so fascinated with eating grass of all things? He had said a lot of things unfortunately.

"About not taking this too slow?" she finished with a soft smile.

Oh. _OH_! He forced a smile to his lips and laughed awkwardly. No words were coming to his mind right then to form a coherent sentence, so he tried his best to delay. Only as he started speaking, the words, "Um, well, I mean, if you're, you know, agreeable . . ." tumbled out. He was as graceful as a newborn calf right then.

"Agreeable?" She laughed before she slowly sauntered towards him. "Severus, let's be honest. When it comes to you, I've been fantasizing about us for years."

He nodded dumbstruck. She was propositioning him for sex. That much was very clear to him. And he was being an idiot and not just denying her outright like he should have. She was still getting over the ill effects of long-term use of Bliss. There was no telling if this was even really her. It could have all been an elaborate ruse to get what she wanted, to brew it herself or to—

"Fuck." The word slipped past his mouth before he could stop it.

"Well, I was hoping for lovemaking or, you know, foreplay," she quietly remarked with a laugh, running a hand through her dark curls yet again.

He shook his head, trying to rid the hormonal thoughts from his mind as he approached her. "Is this truly what you want, Aurora? If it's not, I'll understand. You're still . . . that is . . ." He sighed heavily and drew in a deep breath before he started over. "I don't want this to be a regret, a mistake."

"It won't be," she replied, her hand reaching up to stroke his cheek. He closed his eyes in response to her soft, torturous touch. "Unless you don't—"

"Good god, woman!" he barked, his voice still light though. "Of course I want!" He heard her soft, amused laughs. "I also don't want to hurt you."

"Would it help to say it's not my first time having sex?"

He glanced at her and grimaced. "It would not." So, she was experienced. That answered one question of his. He shook his head, though. Too much talking was going on and not enough snogging. Too much talking and not enough snogging always ended badly. In fact, it was why he hadn't actually been with a woman. Oh, he snogged. He would freely admit that. He even occasionally dabbled in pleasuring women (as he had always believed that good sex needed to be prepared like any good potion), but to complete the actual deed—well, he had always gotten too wrapped up in his own head, and the moment would be over before it even began.

"Do you know why I was so disappointed when I first saw Harrison?" she suddenly asked, finally breaking the awkward silence between them.

He blinked at the sudden change and swallowed, the demons in his mind quieting briefly. Yet again, he had missed the moment. He would be patient, though, and allow his disappointment to vanish on its own again, as it always did after he once again managed to talk his way out of sex. There would be a better time. He was sure of it.

"I was jealous, Severus." She forced an awkward laugh. "Can you believe that? Jealous that someone—some other woman—had carried your child."

His eyes narrowed on her. She had been jealous? Harrison wasn't really his, though.

"I realized then that I needed to stay far away from you. That I couldn't accept Minerva's offer for the Astronomy post."

"Why?" That sounded so absurd. She stayed away because he had a child? Ridiculous!

"Because I couldn't get past that feeling. Past that anger and hurt that someone else had won your heart first." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "It's stupid now to think about it in hindsight. You're not some prize to be won after all. And you're a man." She smiled faintly at him. "With needs of course, so I had not right to feel jealous or anything that night. But I did." She shook her head slowly. "Anyway, long story short, that night I went out and drank my feelings away. Not with Bliss, mind you, but with a 1932 bottle of La Crescent elf-wine."

He stared at her, barely blinking and with his mouth hanging open just a bit. She drank a bottle of 1932 La Crescent? A bottle?! There had only been twenty bottles of it ever made. It was extremely rare and . . . He himself had only had the pleasure of drinking it once at one of Lucius and Narcissa's lavish dinner parties. Truth be told in fact, he had recently been saving all of his money for a bottle lately because it had been so good and had made such an impact on him. A 1932 bottle truly?

"I'm ruining the mood. I know. I'm sorry," she said, biting her lip nervously as she likely noticed his shocked look on his face. One moment they were seconds from snogging and more, and the next they were in knee-deep serious conversation.

"It's fine," he replied instantly. It was. Clearly, she needed to tell him this, to get him to understand something before they moved their relationship to the next level.

"Pomfrey keeps wanting me to tell her what happened that night. You know?" She trembled slightly so Severus instinctively drew her into his arms, holding her against him. "I can't. I mean, she'll lock me up even longer if I had told her that. That I had been drunk, trying to rid myself of all my anger and hurt over just seeing you with a baby. I'd surely get the lecture on rights and wrongs of love and all that nonsense of hers." She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. "But that's what happened. I was trying to numb myself to it, try to forget it ever happened."

He nodded slowly, unsure of what else to say. Though, a part of him recognized that he didn't really need to say anything. He just needed to be there and listen to her. That was what she needed from him right then, and he'd happily comply.

"And then after the bottle was gone, the entire bottle, I went home to Mum and Dad at Windsor. Mother had just given birth to my little sister a few months earlier, and in my drunken state I thought that was the perfect time to go see her." She scoffed, shaking her head against him as she buried her head further into his shoulder seeking him out for protection and likely warmth. "She had gotten sick—Mother that is—during her pregnancy with my sister. Dad said that it was between losing her and Jezlyn, so they induced to give them both a chance. She was a few weeks early, my sister that is, but Dad said Jezlyn was healthy—all five fingers and toes." She trembled more against him, her breaths hitching more than a few times as she spoke. He didn't dare interrupt her now. "I was going to talk to Dad too. To work this whole thing out between you and me. He always has the exact right things to say to get me to pull my head out of my arse."

He closed his eyes as he continued to hold her protectively, desperately wanting to absorb all her pain to heal her. Her breathing hitched even more now, and her words were starting to come out as choked sobs. She needed to let it out. To finally reveal to someone what had happened that night. It wasn't lost on him that it was him she was telling and not Pomfrey.

"Mum was already . . . there was so much . . . I tried . . . I did, Severus." She pulled back from him slightly to hold his gaze. It was as if she needed him to understand this. "But her wounds . . . they . . . I even cut my wrist on a piece of glass, thinking she'd, you know, take a bite. But she didn't. She couldn't." She drew in a shaky breath, trying to recapture some form of control on her emotions again. "I heard my dad upstairs yelling. I tried to run up there. I . . ." Her voice broke, and she shook violently against him. So violently, in fact, that he briefly considered the possibility that she was experiencing a seizure. However, he knew that it wasn't. "They . . . they killed—they killed her—my sister. She was just . . . just a few months old, and they killed her, Severus. As if she was nothing."

He kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back, unsure of what else to do to help her. He briefly considered drawing his wand and removing those memories from her, but decided against it. He knew that would have done more harm than good in the end.

"Dad was holding her. Rocking her back and forth. I tried to reach them when . . . I didn't notice him until I saw my dad scream. I wasn't quick enough. All those years of practicing. All those sessions. They were for nothing. I couldn't even fight off some pathetic little worm who didn't even know that he had the wrong damn manor for Circe's sake!"

His heart broke listening to her. She was still badly shaken from it.

"Declan came in sometime after. I don't know when. I honestly couldn't tell you. The next thing I knew I was waking up in St. Mungo's with Albus Dumbledore sitting beside my cot."

Severus inwardly tensed as his eyes narrowed into slits.

"He told me what had happened. That Dad and I were the only . . . about Jezlyn and Mum. That Declan had saved us. I wanted to see Dad naturally, but he said that Dad didn't want any visitors."

That bastard! He would break the man's nose the next time he saw him. How could he not let Aurora see her father after that? Didn't the old man have any sort of heart? Oh, whom was he kidding anyway? It was Albus Dumbledore he was talking about after all.

"He told me how there was evidence stating that you were in danger. That there was a group within the Ministry who wanted to harm you. He asked me if I would be willing to put my anger to good use. And I accepted. I . . . I couldn't say no. Not after . . . I couldn't."

The man would be unable to walk, let alone breathe after Severus was finished with him. Damn Dumbledore! Didn't the man see the harm he inflicted? How his meddling affected others? Of course he didn't. The man cared very little for others, regardless of his cheap ploys that were to help the so-called Greater Good, which Severus was beginning to suspect was only Dumbledore in his mind.

"It was little things at first. Run an errand here or there. Go to the Ministry to talk with Kingsley. Hang around the Aurors. Observe. But then he wanted more. I told him I couldn't keep doing it. That I couldn't keep pretending I was interested in becoming an Auror, to go night after night and see the worst of the worst get off scot-free while others of lesser nobility were locked away. Kingsley could see that it was affecting me greatly. He tried being a friend, but deep down I knew he wanted more." She didn't notice that he had tensed at her words. "We were on a raid when I came across Bliss. I knew about it from university of course, but . . . It was in a flat of some wizard who was selling artifacts of some kind. I forget now. At first it was just a taste, but then I thought why just a taste when I can feel nothing all the time? So I took more. Kingsley didn't have a clue. He told me, though, one day how much better I was at handling everything. I was good, you know? Good at hiding, at all the lying I was expected to say to keep my true mission a secret." She sighed, allowing the silence to fall around them again.

He thought on her admissions for a few moments, silently mulling them over in his mind. However, his mind couldn't move past her stating that she worked closely with Kingsley. He couldn't put his exact finger on it, but he didn't like the way that sounded one bit. Perhaps it was his jealousy coming out, but he needed to know. Not because it mattered really if something had happened, he supposed, but to know.

"Aurora?" he softly said, unable to hold his tongue any longer. He needed to know if only to put his demons to rest once and for all. He pulled back from her slightly. "I know I have no right to ask this, but did anything happen between the two of you, you and Kingsley I mean?" She stared up at him through tears, swallowing but finally shaking her head a few moments later.

"No. He kissed me once, but that was it. I think he got the hint when I slapped him for it."

He nodded before he waited for her to continue.

"That's why . . . why I want to do this now. Why I don't want to wait anymore, Severus."

His eyes narrowed. Because of Kingsley? He wasn't sure if he should be happy about that or not.

"Because I love you," she said softly, staring up at him. "Because I've always been in love with you. Even if you are a sarcastic grumpy hermit of a bastard who believes that the world is full of idiots whom you're damned to share an eternity in hell with," she teased, laughing quietly.

"Sarcastic grumpy hermit of a bastard?" he repeated before he too chuckled. "Excuse me, but I prefer bastard of the dungeons whose main goal in life is to see how many students he can reduce to tears, thank you." He smiled when she rolled her eyes. "And the answer is 210."

"Only that much?" she drawled. "You're slipping, Severus."

"I admit, I've been distracted lately," he replied with a shrug before he laughed. His hand went to her hair, brushing back a few of her curls and tucking it behind her ear. "I don't follow your logic, though. Because you love me, you believe then we should evolve our growing relationship?"

"I don't want to wait anymore. I don't want to be like them. To only be with you for a few months before it's taken away. Before _you're_ taken away."

He nodded slowly. He could understand that, seeing as he himself had thought those same things since learning about his Future self and that timeline. "I understand, but to take this step . . ."

"You think it's too fast?" He could see the hurt in her eyes.

"I think that you've been through a lot, Aurora, and that while this may seem like a good idea at first . . . and something I very, very much would like . . ." He sighed heavily. "It would do more harm than good in the end, and you'd grow to regret this in the morning." He gently caressed her cheek and held her eyes. He felt her tears splash against his hand and continued. "I want this—I do—so please don't take my words to mean that I'm not attracted to you or any of those other ridiculous thoughts you witches get stuck in your head when a man declines such a proposition. It's not that, Aurora. I just . . . I don't want our first time together to become a mistake we both wish never happened the next morning."

"What makes you think I'd regret this?"

He stared down at her before he closed his eyes and sighed silently. "Because you're emotional, rightly so considering what you've been through lately, and you're still grieving, still processing. You're . . . if I thought for a moment this would heal those wounds . . ." He licked his lips, his eyes softening on her as he saw more hurt flash behind hers. He gently grabbed her hands and kissed her fingertips tenderly, holding her hands. "I'd shag you until I was raw and then some if I thought for a moment it'd heal those wounds. I would. But it won't. It might lessen it for a bit, but in the morning, it'd come back."

"You don't know that," she argued, her eyes pleading with his. "I'm not some foolish woman who throws herself at any man, Severus. I . . . Severus, I'm asking you," she stated, staring at him. "The man I love, not some random man I just met in a pub five minutes earlier. You!"

"I know you are, but—"

"I won't regret this in the morning. I won't! What do I have to do to prove that to you? Tell me, and I'll do it. I won't regret us sleeping together. I promise. I want this, Severus. I do."

"Aurora," he started to say.

"Please!" she interrupted, grabbing his arms as if it would make him see she was being honest.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. He couldn't risk what she was asking of him. There was too much at stake not to err on the side of caution as he was. After more time had passed and she continued to show improvement, then he'd consider it. But he wouldn't give in and disrespect her by taking advantage while she was in obvious pain and grief. He could wait. He could.

She released him then and shook her head. "Whatever," she scoffed before she walked back into his bathroom and shut the door behind her, likely to finish taking her shower.

His head fell back against the wall again, and he sighed heavily. Relationships were messy. He had always been the outsider, so he could usually pinpoint where the other person had gone wrong with their significant other. But right then, he didn't have a clue. He had done the right thing, hadn't he? He wasn't so certain anymore. In fact, he wasn't certain about anything anymore.

In a matter of hours, he had gone from being a boyfriend to . . . Had he friendzoned himself this time, he wondered. With Evans, she had been the one to put him in that corner as she happily moved on to James Potter instead and left him behind in the past. But with Aurora, he was constantly pulling himself back whenever they moved forward—all in order to protect her.

He paused and lifted his head up, staring at the closed door.

What were they now? She obviously was disappointed and hurt by his refusal. However, she hadn't stormed out of the room and headed back to the hospital wing, though. In fact, she had went back into his bathroom to finish taking her shower.

His head turned to the side, as he thought on this. With the minutes quickly passing by silently, his thoughts suddenly turned dark. He had allowed her to leave without stopping her. Wasn't he supposed to stop her? To fix this? Wasn't that what people in love did? He didn't want to lose her after all. He also didn't want to suffocate her either.

Raising a hand, he paused when he about connected with the closed door. What on Earth was he doing? She was taking a shower. That was it. Nothing bad was happening. Nothing Earth shattering at least. He had hurt her yes, but they were both adults. And it couldn't have been the first time a man had declined her request. Could it?

"Oh screw it!" he grumbled, finally throwing caution to the side. He raised his voice and yelled through the closed door (loud enough for her to hear but not loud enough that it'd wake Harrison), "I'm coming in, Aurora." He turned the knob and stepped inside, the humidity instantly suffocating him. Did she have to take such hot showers? It was as if he was in the Sahara Desert right then.

"Go away," she sniffled from the other side of the shower door. It was obvious that she had been crying more after she had left him, which made his chest hurt even more.

"No. Not until we discuss this like rational adults."

When the shower door opened unexpectedly, he winced and kept his eyes downcast to the floor where he found her soaked dress and sandals . . . and silky bra . . . a very familiar silky bra in fact, only this one was crème-colored and the other was black. It had been Aurora's bra he had tripped on that day in Demetri's flat, he realized.

"Excuse me? Like rational adults? Tell me, Severus. Do rational adults normally burst in and interrupt one another when the other is taking a shower? Because if so, then I'm clearly an irrational adult as I'd never interrupt you in the shower."

She had a point. He was acting rather foolish.

"Or what?" Her voice grew colder and hardened. "Did you think I was trying to hurt myself in here? Use your razor or something?"

"No. Never," he replied, his head jerking upwards and his eyes finding hers.

"Then why in the hell are you—"

"Are we still romantically involved with one another?" he burst out asking, grimacing when he caught her astonishment. Of all the things she thought he was going to say, that was clearly not one of them. He sighed and began speaking to dissipate the ugly silence. "I only ask because you left and—"

"I left to take a shower, Severus, which you suggested, remember?"

"Yes, but in the manner which you did, I—"

"You did what you believe is the right thing and told me no," she cut in again. "It's a stupid belief, mind you, but it shows how much of a good man you are to want to respect me like that. Why?"

So, she hadn't broken up with him? Oh. He rubbed the back of his neck and felt more foolish than he had ever felt. He was a certified dunderhead. No doubt about it.

"Severus, why do—" The rest of her question was cut off by a panicked yell as she slipped and fell backwards.

His hand instinctively flew up, and he felt his magic react to what was happening. A second later, she crashed against him as he had summoned her to him. His arms wrapped around her protectively while he braced himself to stay upright. When he was certain they were both safe, he sighed heavily and closed his eyes. That had been too close.

"Thanks," she murmured, gasping as she fought to get her breathing back under control.

He opened his mouth to speak, only to close it when he inhaled deeply and smelled his soap on her. He was quickly reminded of her lack of clothing then and noticed how wet he was. He licked his bottom lip again and tried to speak again.

"Severus?"

"Yes?"

She squirmed slightly against him, and he bit his cheek to keep from groaning. A wave of pleasure shot through him from just a little bit of movement by her.

"That's not your wand, is it?"

He glanced over her to the mirror before his eyes quickly darted away at seeing her backside. He could feel himself grow even more uncomfortable.

"No." His wand was still in its holster. He heard her soft laughs and glanced down at her. He was glad she was amused by his predicament. She had been the clumsy one who had nearly cracked her skull open in his shower after all.

"What if we come to a compromise then, Severus?" she asked softly, a gentle hand resting against his chest.

"A compromise?" He frowned briefly, thankful to have the much-needed distraction. "What sort of compromise?"

"Since you nixed my sex idea because once again you have to be Mister Prince Charming instead of your usual bastardly self," she said with a quiet laugh, "what if we cuddled instead?"

"Cuddled?" he repeated. It wasn't the worst idea he supposed. Hold her while sleeping or at least attempting to? Of course, he had a reputation to maintain so he couldn't just agree after all. "And what makes you believe I am capable of this, Sinistra?"

"Honestly? Not a damn thing, but I'm told you like a challenge and, well, learning new things," she teased back. "Though, I admit I'm not holding out any hope where this is concerned. Nothing about you screams Cuddle Master."

He snorted before he allowed his arms to lessen his hold on her and naturally move to her waist.

"Perhaps that's because I haven't found the right witch yet, as I keep falling for one who seems to be as graceful as a baby giraffe." He chuckled when she poked him lightly.

"Hey! Don't go blaming this on me, Snape! If you weren't doing a perfect impression of a creepy love-sick stalker, I wouldn't have fallen."

"Oh, yes, it's clearly all my fault," he drawled, relaxing even more in her embrace. "It's never the witch's fault ever. How could I so foolishly have forgotten that?" He smirked when he felt her laugh against him. The air was lightening up again, as was their mood. "A witch is never wrong, unless she is, which you are in this case."

"Am I?"

"Yes. You are." He lowered his voice slowly. "I'll have you know that I have my mastery in not only Potions but in cuddling and other specialties regarding the sensual arts." When she burst out laughing, he joined her and chuckled deeply. He so badly wanted to kiss her again, to taste her, but he resisted just barely.

"The sensual arts?"

"Indeed. They're a very dangerous discipline, full of—" His words vanished on his tongue when she stood up on her tip-toes and captured his lips with hers. He breathed in deeply, pulling her closer and in fact picking her up off the ground as he groaned inwardly. When he set her back down a moment later, panting heavily, he looked down at her. His mind was mush. The only thought he had now was how he badly wanted to be with her. To make her his fully and completely.

"You talk to much," Aurora murmured, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"So I've been told," he replied just as equally soft.

"We'll do it your way tonight and no sex. All right?" She smiled as she ran a finger down his jaw, leaving behind a hot trail of warmth where she touched. "And we'll wait and just cuddle until I have to return to Pomfrey and her cage again. We only have the rest of our lives, don't we? Surely, we can wait a bit longer . . ."

Merlin, he loved this woman.


	19. Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, dear readers. Some obvious sexual situations arise in this chapter, so you're warned. Nothing too graphic, I believe. As always, enjoy.

When Severus woke many hours later, he found himself alone in bed. Sighing inwardly, he tried to keep his disappointment at bay, but he found himself failing at it spectacularly. He had thought for sure he'd wake up still holding Aurora in his arms, spooned up against her warm body—her back to his chest, shorts to sweatpants. But she had run again.

Shaking his head, he decided not to dwell on it anymore. It wouldn't do any good anyways. What more could he do for her than he had already done? She still wasn't ready for that step in their relationship. Throwing off the black satin sheet, he rolled himself out of bed and walked barefoot across the cool stone floor towards his bathroom. He may as well have went on with his day, he decided.

Re-emerging a few minutes later while still drying his hands from after washing them, he stopped when he saw the dark silhouette in his bed. His eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed. She had returned to him? Or was he, in just a pair of loose sweatpants, wandless, about to be hexed by some unknown (and highly unlikely) intruder?

"Aurora?" he hesitantly called out before he waved a hand at one of the nearby torches and lit it magically. He forced a laugh of astonishment when he saw her looking back at him, holding two steaming cups in hand while still in her tank-top and shorts she had gone to bed in. She was sitting with her back against the headboard, her legs curled underneath her.

"I thought we could have some tea together before I head back," she explained quietly. She was biting her lower lip again. A nervous tic of hers he had noticed awhile back.

He nodded slowly. "That sounds wonderful." He returned to her, grabbing the cup from her before he slid back into bed beside her.

"I didn't know how you take yours, so if it's wrong . . ."

He waved her worry away. "I'm certain it's fine whatever you chose." He then took a sip, nearly coughing. If there was one kind of tea he hated the most, chamomile was certainly it.

"It's wrong, isn't it?"

"It's fine," he replied, setting the cup aside. "Just was a bit too hot for my likes still." He could see that she didn't believe him for a second, but she didn't push him on it either thankfully. "I thought you had left," he admitted quietly, hoping she'd open a bit more to him if he did the same.

"I considered it." She shrugged, taking another sip. "But that wouldn't have been fair to you."

"Well, I'm glad you didn't." He watched her nod slowly, her eyes remaining lowered. That wasn't the reaction he had expected from her. He then frowned, as he watched her more. She was withdrawn again, sullen. Had something happened that he wasn't aware of? He had only been gone for a minute or two he thought. Best for him to be direct about it, he decided. "Is something wrong, Aurora?"

She scoffed in reply before she too set down her cup on the nightstand. "Pomfrey is never going to let me out again. You know that, right? Not after this. I'll be lucky if she even lets you visit."

The chimes from the clock tower echoing in the distance helped him quickly understand just what in the world she was talking about. It was way past the two hours Pomfrey had agreed to.

"I'll explain it to her," he calmly replied. "It's my fault, after all."

"Hardly," she said with a snort. "But thank you."

He inclined his head and sighed softly. "It was nice, though, wasn't it?"

"It was," she agreed, picking at invisible fuzz from the bedsheet.

"Aurora, this doesn't mean we won't see each other again. It might be awhile, but—"

"It's not that."

"Then what?"

"I hate it there." Her eyes darted back to his. "Locked in a cage, constantly being picked apart and prodded like a lab animal."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do you hate the hospital wing so much? It's not my cup of tea either of course, but Pomfrey means well. Even if she's annoying and fusses over you constantly."

"My problem isn't with her, Severus. I know she's just doing her job."

"Then what?"

"It's the whole damn room: the smells, the sounds, the food even. It's worse than Azkaban."

He couldn't help but snort. "And just what do you know about Azkaban, Aurora?"

If ever there was an embodiment of an innocent angel, it'd surely be of Aurora. Obviously, he knew there were parts of her life that he had absolutely no clue about. But her magic was light, whiter than any other person's he had ever encountered. Oh, sure, he wouldn't delude himself for a second and believe that she didn't know dark spells. She did. All Slytherins learned them at one point unfortunately, thanks to Horace Slughorn and his brilliant ideas. However, he knew she didn't cast them unless there was no other way, no other options left.

She didn't answer at first. Instead, she turned away, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around them. It was a few moments later before she finally said quietly, "One of Dumbledore's errands was for Kingsley and me to go there. To speak with someone for him."

She had visited Azkaban? His eyes narrowed on her. When? Before her mother and sister's deaths or . . . No! Surely Dumbledore wasn't that heartless. It was common knowledge, after all, that Dementors always affected those who suffered recent losses more than others. In fact, grief and despair was like a drug to them. It was one of the reasons Azkaban detested visitors. Actually, he could recall a few times, rare that it was, where visitors had been accidentally Kissed by the Dementors because of it.

"When was this?" he asked quietly as the wretched silence went on.

"July."

"What?" he snarled, sounding harsher than he had meant to. When he caught her flinch, he winced inwardly and forced himself to empty his mind to control his emotions again. "I apologize," he said softly, lowering his voice to a neutral tone, "but that was shortly after the attack." He made sure not to mention deaths. She didn't need to be reminded of that pain constantly.

"Yes." She rested her head atop of her knees with a soft sigh. She looked absolutely miserable.

"I'm sorry, Aurora," he murmured, reaching towards her. When she moved closer instead, he wrapped his arms around her and held her as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why? You didn't do anything. You didn't even know what had happened."

"I know, but . . ." He sighed heavily, leaning his head against hers. "If I could fix this for you, take all your pain, I would, Aurora."

She softly laughed before she pulled back slightly with a faint smile and looked at him. "I know you would, Severus. You don't have to tell me. I know." She then sighed loudly and leaned back against him. "Pomfrey is going to have kittens about this. I'm actually surprised she hasn't already busted through the portrait to drag me back."

He snorted. "I'd like to see her try and break my wards. Not even Dumbledore himself could come in here right now and take you away."

She grabbed his hand, knitting their fingers together gently. "Not even your mother?" she asked with a hint of amusement.

"Well, she might actually be successful," he admitted with a shrug, "but only because I don't want to hear her screeching at me for keeping her away from her only grandchild."

Aurora laughed softly, nodding against him. "Your son is very lucky to be loved by so many and loved so fiercely by them as well."

"Oh, trust me. The brat knows. He's already learned that if Dad says no, then you go to Grandmum or Granddad and ask them."

Her laughter increased. "A Slytherin in the making already."

"If he even goes to Hogwarts," Severus responded with a shrug.

"You'd send him elsewhere?"

"No." He then sighed, rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb quietly. "Not elsewhere. I don't want him to go through what I did, though. And my past—well, you know it as well as I. All it takes is one dunderhead to make some smart remark, and my son finds himself then having to defend himself constantly or me to his classmates. It'd be easier to keep him away and teach him myself."

"I suppose."

"You disagree?"

"Well, I mean, he's not my son, so I can't really tell you what you should do." She shrugged. "Though, you know, Hogwarts shouldn't be damned because of a select few idiots who roamed its halls. This castle, after all, has been your home for—what—a better part of eleven or so years? It's your home, Severus. Somewhere you've felt safe. Most of the time anyways."

"Yes, but I could find another home for us. One that's not so wrapped up in history and the past."

"You could. If that's what you want."

He frowned. "I merely want my son safe, Aurora. That's all."

"What would you do then? Sell your potions?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I haven't really thought hard on it yet. I have a few years after all before I have to really decide."

"Hogwarts would lose a great Potions master."

Snorting, he rolled his eyes. "They'd throw a party, Aurora, and you know it."

"I wouldn't."

He glanced at her. "Then you intend to remain here at Hogwarts and take the Astronomy post?"

"Yes." She then smiled widely at him. "I mean, you weren't the only reason I applied here."

"No?" he drawled. "I'm a bit hurt by that. Here I thought I was the only reason."

She giggled, rolling her eyes. "You were a pretty big part, I admit, but ultimately it came down to being closer to my family and having a modest enough income where I could research on the side." She then bumped against him playfully. "And let's face it. The night sky over Hogwarts is like no other. Where else could I be so close to my stars than here?"

"So you applied because of stars and me?" He nodded slowly. "I see."

"Oh, please. Don't tell me you didn't apply here because of all the access you'd have to rare and interesting potions ingredients you could get for free."

"Actually, I'll have you know that I first applied for the Defense against the Dark Arts position."

"But you were unsuccessful?"

He opened his mouth before he closed it again. Obviously, that was the case, and she knew it. He frowned and glanced out a nearby window, watching a fish swim past.

She laughed softly before she pulled her hand back from his and caressed his cheek. "Has anyone ever told you that you look extremely sexy when you're angry?"

His eyes darted to her, and he raised a brow. Him, sexy? She was blind. "No, because they're usually too scared to form coherent thoughts when I'm angry," he drawled.

"Scared? Scared of what?" she teased, poking his bare chest lightly. "Of you?"

"Be careful, witch," he warned lightly, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. She was intentionally riling him up for some reason. Likely because, as she herself admitted, he seemed sexier when he was.

"Or what? You'll hex me?" Her eyes were sparkling mischievously. "I think you'll find that I'm not that easy."

"Oh?" he purred back. He drew in a slow, calculated breath as he considered his options. However, he threw all of it out the window a moment later. She had, after all, set him up perfectly for it, so it was likely her own fault for what he was about to say. "Then if I kissed you right now, you're claiming you wouldn't open up like a delicate flower begging me to snog you senseless?" He watched her inhale sharply and felt her tremble slightly. It was enlightening to know he affected her so much.

"You see, there's just one flaw in that, Severus," she stated a moment later with a shrug.

"Is there?"

"There is. You'd have to kiss me first, and, well, let's be honest—you wouldn't know what to do with me once you had me anyway. So, we'd kiss maybe, but you wouldn't snog me. You'd be too overcome to think about what to do next. Where your lips should be. Your tongue should be. Your hands. And so on."

"Are you calling me a coward, woman?" Had it been anyone else, he'd have been enraged. But it was her, and he knew that she knew how much he hated that word.

"Oh no. Nothing of the sort. I'm merely pointing out that when it comes to the sensual arts, you have quite the def—" She let out a sharp gasp when he snatched a hold of her wrists suddenly and managed to pin her on the bed below him, capturing her lips and stealing her breath.

He'd show her a thing or two. He had meant what he had said last night. He was well-versed in the sensual arts. In fact, snogging was something he was very good at. Not that he was bragging or anything. It was just a statement of fact, as he had loads of experience in it.

As his senses exploded in a fury as she kissed him back, he realized how good she felt beneath him. He groaned, pressing himself further into her when he felt her nails rake against his skin. She—they felt perfect together. One half of the other's soul. When he was absolutely certain her lips had swelled up nicely, he slowly moved on, leaving a trail of kisses down her jawline and down her neck. He could feel her chest heaving against his as she squirmed beneath him, gasping for the breaths he had stolen from her. He allowed his fingers to trail down the side of her body then, tracing invisible runes against her flesh as he slipped his hand underneath her tank-top. She arched up against him suddenly, moaning his name loudly into his ear. It was his undoing.

He shuddered at the resulting intense wave of pleasure that shot through, like a hundred lightning bolts of ecstasy, and exploded from him. The moment he realized what had occurred, he pulled back sharply and vanished the sticky evidence of his body's betrayal. He hadn't meant for it to go that far.

"I . . ." He couldn't get the words out. He felt absolutely mortified. It was his turn now to run.

"Severus?" she called out breathlessly, trying to reach for him. She missed, though.

He couldn't face her. Not after that. He snatched ahold of one of his robes hanging up and quickly headed out the door before she could say another word to stop him. He glanced at Harrison's closed door as he walked down the corridor, but turned to the right instead and waved a hand at the locked door before he slipped inside. The door shut quietly behind him, and only then did he exhale loudly, his hands coming up to cover his face.

He recalled his worst memory, watching it flash behind his eyes. Upside down in the air with all his classmates looking on, with Evans looking on, as his ratty old underwear was shown to everyone. And then came those fateful words spoken in stupidity and blind rage. And the despair that followed it as Evans had written him off and ended their friendship. It was happening again now with Aurora. She'd leave him surely after this. No woman wanted a man who couldn't control himself.

A knock against the door, though, got his hopes up. His hands fell to his side, and he whirled around, shocked. She hadn't left? He had been so certain she would.

"Severus?" Her voice was soft, hesitant. A pause followed. "Are you all right?"

"Go away, Sinistra," he snapped, desperately hoping she didn't. He wouldn't beg her to stay. To not leave him. He wouldn't force her to be his friend, his lover either. He loved her too much for that. He hated that he always relied on his temper to make things easier. To push the ones he loved away in order to protect himself. Oh, whom was he kidding? He wasn't pushing them. He was shoving them off every cliff he could find. He had always been like that, though, thanks to his father, Roger, his mother, Evans, everyone who had ever hurt him deeply.

When he didn't hear her respond or any sounds of movement, he closed his eyes dejectedly and turned away. He knew it was too good to be true. It was why he had sworn love off long ago. Or at least had tried to. No one could love a man who embraced the darkness inside, who couldn't control himself.

"Why?" she finally replied, yelling through the door at him. "So you can keep feeling sorry for yourself in there, Snape?"

He whirled back around. A part of him was glad to have heard her voice, to see that she hadn't quite abandoned him yet. Yet another part, the part usually in charge, was irritated by her words. How dare she accuse him of that! He snatched a hold of the doorknob, turned it, and threw the door open.

"Excuse me?" he sneered, glaring down at her.

"You heard me," she replied, matching his tone surprisingly.

He grabbed her arm and yanked her inside before he slammed the door shut again. He would be damned if they woke his son up over this. Throwing up a quick _Muffliato_ , he leveled the coldest glare he had at her, terrified that she'd leave and angry that his temper didn't affect her in the slightest.

"Listen here, you insufferable—"

"No, you listen here, you dungeon-dwelling bat of bastardness!" she snapped back, poking him hard in the chest and leveling her own level-ten icy glare of death. "There is absolutely no goddamn reason for you to be a world-class git over this. So your 'wand' misfired with me just now. Who cares? I don't! Because—I don't know if you noticed this at all seeing as how you probably can't see anything past that long arse beak of yours—I wasn't doing much better than you!"

"You didn't—"

Once again, she cut him off, which irritated him even more. "Oh, I'm sorry," she snarled sarcastically. "Was your hand in my knickers without me realizing it? Because, I mean, if it was, then you'd very much be aware of how ready I was for you and realize how stupid you sound right now. But once again, Severus, you have to go running off like some damn lunatic thinking that you're always right when you are so very wrong in this case!" She threw her hands up into the air. "Sometimes I swear to Circe, you are blatantly dense on purpose, because there is absolutely no way you're this idiotic! I love you! Do you get that?" She poked him hard in the chest again. "Do you?"

He didn't know how to react to her, finding himself stunned by her words and actions.

"You don't need to run off just because of something like that. I wasn't horrified or whatever else you stupidly thought. I was a bit irritated when you left, sure, but that's it."

He opened his mouth to argue, but she once again sharply cut him off.

"If you so much as compare me to Evans right now, I'm punching you," she coldly stated. "Because I am not her, Severus, and I will never be her."

"Everyone leaves me, Aurora," he murmured, trying not to let his emotions get the better part of him or to sound pathetic. He failed at both. "Everyone reaches that breaking point, and—"

"I didn't leave, though. You did."

"Of course I left," he replied with a scoff. Why wasn't she getting this? It was fairly obvious he thought. "I didn't want to see your face when you realized that—"

"That you had responded perfectly naturally to the woman you love moaning your name in your ear," she interrupted yet again, causing him to clench his jaw tightly. "It happens. I mean, hell, Severus, it shows that you are very much attracted to me. Why the hell then would I want to leave you over it?"

When she put it that way, he supposed she may have been right. At least partially. He sighed silently and leaned back against the nearby table. He was never going to survive a relationship with her, let alone a physical one. He came undone by just her moaning his name. He scoffed again, shaking his head. He could see it now. A lifetime of embarrassing encounters played over and over in his head.

"Severus?"

"What?" he grumbled, crossing his arms with a frown.

"You haven't been with a woman, have you? Like, fully been with one?"

His eyes darted to her. Was it that obvious? "Of course I have, Sinistra," he snapped, the lie easily rolling off his tongue. Years of being friends with Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy had given him plenty of experience in reciting that particular lie. "That's ridiculous."

"It's fine if you haven't," she said neutrally, holding up a placating hand. "I'm not going to love you any less."

"Thank Merlin for that," he drawled bitterly. "However, I can assure you that I have been with many women. So many that I couldn't even tell you all their names."

She snorted, raising her eyebrows at him. "Oh, really?"

"Are you accusing me of lying?" he said in a low growl. He didn't like that she was able to pick up on his lies so easily.

She shrugged in response. "I mean, let's look at this logically, shall we? You kiss me that first time, and then pull back sharply. You kiss me again . . . and pull back. You tell me you love me. Kiss me again. Snog me actually this time and just when things get very interesting . . . you pull back yet again. Then we engage in a little foreplay, a little snogging some more, and you leave, scared that your body reacting to my actions is going to make me leave you."

"I'm not scared," he snapped, his heart racing as his ears rang.

"Prove it."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "We're not adolescents, Sinistra. Therefore, I do not need to prove myself to you. If you don't believe me, well, then that's—"

"Proving my point."

"Will you cease in your annoying habit of interrupting me, woman?" he growled, pushing off from the table finally. "I've been with women!"

"And I say that's bullshit, and that you're lying to me and yourself because you think that you have to be this whole macho man who has screwed them and left them like Black or Potter used to do. You forget that I know you, Severus. You don't have to pretend with me. If you haven't—"

"I've been with women," he repeated deathly quiet, taking several threatening steps towards her.

"Wait! Is this because of what I said last night? Your feeling the need to overcompensate now?"

"Of course not."

"Because none of those men mattered, Severus."

"Men?" he repeated, blinking when he heard his voice echo in the room. That was stupid. He shouldn't have said that. He was just giving her more evidence to back up her theory. He drew himself up to his full height and turned away from her when he realized she still wasn't afraid of him.

"That's what I said," she replied softly. "And before you think that I was shagging my way across Europe, the number is three, Severus." He turned back and held her eyes. "Once when I was fifteen, and it wasn't, shall we say, enjoyable in the slightest." She flexed her left hand. "The second time was several months after that, and I just was trying to make myself feel better because of how horrible my first time was. Of course sleeping with Black never makes one feel better."

"What?!" His dark eyes widened. "You slept with Black?" He hadn't mean to yell, but . . . of all the men she could possibly have chosen, she chose Black?!

"It wasn't my proudest moment, Severus," she replied with a frown. "I was drinking to forget and numb myself, and he did his usual bit . . . and I just didn't care. Until I did afterwards and was a sobbing mess in front of him." She then crossed her arms. "I could have not told you that, you know, but I did. Even though, I know how much you hate him."

"For good reason," he growled before he shook his head angrily. She was right, though. She didn't have to tell him, but he was glad that she had. It spoke to her trust and love for him. It couldn't have been easy considering how much he hated the wretched man. It wouldn't have been unimaginable that he'd leave her after that. Black. She had been with Black of all men. He exhaled forcefully, knowing he would somehow have to come to terms with that disturbing info and move on. It was, after all, long ago . . . and she had been fifteen at the time by her admission. An age known for stupid, reckless tendencies. "And your third?"

"Happened after another night of drinking. I couldn't even tell you the guy's name to be honest." She shrugged again. "I went out with Dem to celebrate our passing some exam or something, and there was this guy who was flirting with me at one of the clubs we were at. I had more than my usual glasses of elf-wine, and it happened. Wasn't romantic in the slightest or good either for that matter, seeing as how it happened in one of the stalls of the club's bathrooms."

He opened his mouth before he snapped it firmly shut, realizing what she was telling him. She was more experienced than him, yes, but they weren't encounters to be proud of or memorable for her in the slightest. In fact, she likely hadn't enjoyed a single time, nor had it been with someone she cared for. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his long hair.

"Fine. You're right," he admitted softly, waving a hand lazily. "I haven't done that."

"Thank you. Now, was that so hard?"

He frowned, glaring at her. Maybe not for her. "Be as that may, though, I'm not scared. I meant what I said, Sinistra. We shouldn't move on to that step until you're . . ." His words trailed off as he watched her pull her tank-top off in front of him. "Uh . . ." What on Earth was she doing?

With a smile that would have made the Cheshire cat jealous, she stared back at him before she then pushed down her shorts and stepped out of them. "Oh, I'm sorry. You were saying?"

He inhaled sharply and averted his eyes far from her delicious nakedness. He could feel his cheeks flush once more, and the familiar hardness return to his groin. Merlin, what this woman did to him somedays. It was utter torture.

"What are you doing, Aurora?"

When she gently grabbed his chin a moment later and turned his head back to her, he groaned loudly in defeat. His eyes reluctantly met hers again, noticing her amusement mixed with love for him.

"Well, now that I know I'm right," he groused at her words, "it makes me want you that much more." Her smile grew. "Everyone wants to steal a virgin's virtue after all," she teased.

"We shouldn't do this," he murmured, leaning in to her hand that was caressing his cheek. She felt so good. His control was slipping again. He couldn't clear his mind.

"You're exactly right. We've hardly dated. We really shouldn't," she agreed, smiling saucily. She then leaned in closer to him. "But admit it, you want to."

"You're still recovering from—"

"This isn't because I want to feel something, Severus. I mean, I do. Don't get me wrong there. I do want to feel that ecstasy and peacefulness that follows. I admit that freely." She then sighed softly, her eyes softening. "I love you, though. I think you see that. And, well, I'll be honest some more. I think it'll be good for you if we do this. If we just . . . plunge right in like stupid teenagers in love."

"Good?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"Yes." She grabbed his hands, placing them on her chest atop of her heart. He sharply inhaled in response to her action, taking note at how fast her heart was beating currently. "Because you're overthinking everything right now. And don't bother denying it either. I can hear your thoughts because they're _that_ loud currently."

"You cannot!" he argued. She wasn't a Legilimens. And, sure, he wasn't occluding or anything right then, but he wasn't by any means a novice and left his mind _that_ open.

"I get the whole not wanting to hurt me. I do. And it's sweet of you to deny yourself because you don't want to hurt me. Hell, I also get that you're probably thinking now with me revealing my pathetic sexual encounters that, you know, it doesn't mean much to me. But, Severus, I want this, and sex, especially with you, does too mean something to me. I'm not drunk or on anything or trying to manipulate you for nefarious reasons. I'm perfectly sober, rational as I ever am. And I'm telling you that I want this. I truly do. You and me shagging isn't going to undo anything. I'm not going to go off the deep end and drown my sorrows, hurt myself afterwards. I'm not wanting this because you're just another warm body either. I want this with you, Severus. I want you." She kept her hands atop of his. "I mean, if you truly don't think you're ready, then I'll re-dress and we can enjoy a good breakfast together with Harrison before I go back." She smiled at him. "But I think our little moment back in the bedroom shows that you are. Your mind, though, is holding you back because you're envisioning all the things that could go wrong, all the possibilities, not to mention the fact that we're still learning about one another. Your heart, on the other hand, is locked in a constant duel with your mind, telling you you're an idiot and to go for it already. To take this leap of faith with me."

He sighed heavily. She wasn't wrong. "But why did you undress then?"

"Because it's the only way to get you out of your mind," she replied with a laugh. "And, well, I'll admit it is amusing to see you lose your constant grip on your control too, as it's so rare to see."

"You're a very evil woman, you know that?" he mumbled, his shoulders slumping. If she was telling the truth, then what was stopping him from doing what he himself badly wanted to do? Granted, they barely knew each other still as she too admitted, but he had learned quite a bit about her. And she hadn't left him yet know what she knew about him, so that was a good sign. And he was curious, very much so. She was willing, so who the hell was he to deny her the pleasure? Deny himself the pleasure?

"I'm a Slytherin, Severus. You know that. We'll use any means to achieve our goals."

He snorted before a grin took over. "About time you act like one, Sinistra."

"Are you just going to keep talking or are you going to take advantage of the fact that you have a willing female in front of you who desperately desires you?" she stated with another saucy smile. "So much so that she's standing naked in your damn dungeons, half-freezing to death?"

"I haven't decided yet," he remarked, chuckling when she lightly hit his chest.

"Smart arse."

One of his hands pulled back then before he lowered his head and kissed her. His free hand went to her curls before his other lowered and slid around to her lower back to push her even closer. When he felt her arms wrap around his neck, he inhaled, groaning as her scent invaded his every sense again. He was giving in, taking a risk. Being a goddamn Gryffindor with her and being reckless . . . and in love. His heart on his sleeve, ready to be ripped out by anyone passing by. Merlin, he was being rather melodramatic, wasn't he?

When he felt her hands move down his chest, he paused, drawing in a breath to clear his mind. "Not in my lab," he murmured against her lips, trying to maneuver them to the door then. When she pulled back from him, though, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "What?" Had he said something wrong?

"Why not?" she asked with a playful smile.

"Because it's my lab," he replied, blinking at her. When she walked around him a moment later, he felt even more confused. Weren't they . . . His mouth dropped when she hopped up to sit on the edge of his mahogany workbench then. Every time he'd brew know, he'd recall this moment. "Aurora?"

"Yes, Severus?"

"It's my lab," he repeated for lack of anything else to say.

"I know. It's your private lab in fact. I bet you don't let just anyone in here. Do you?" she asked with a playful smile, a finger brushing over the wooden tabletop seductively.

"No." He swallowed, taking two steps towards her. "I haven't had anyone in here ever."

"I bet you have all sorts of fantasies in that mind of yours. Locked up behind the thickest barriers you can create. Hmm?" she said, her hand slowly running through his long raven locks. "And I bet all the stars in my sky that one of them took place right here."

His mouth went dry suddenly, and he leaned more into her touch. She wasn't wrong. He had dreamt of a fairly similar situation over the past summer reading her future self's journal.

"It's your decision, of course." She shrugged. "Here. Your bed. The shower. Or anywhere."

He half-choked out a snort, as he watched her. "My, aren't you the little sex fiend, Aurora?" he drawled, his voice cracking just slightly. She was going to eat him alive. That much was certain.

"Like I said, I've been fantasizing about us since I met you. So, that's—what—ten years of fantasies?" she laughed. "I'll admit, they didn't get steamy until I was thirteen. And, oh Circe . . . at fourteen I was beyond all hope."

He stepped in between her spread legs, his hands pressed flush against the table as he leaned towards her. Her words were definitely having the desired reaction on him. He was so close to throwing caution to the wind and giving in to the dark fantasy she was creating for him.

"Oh?" he murmured.

"One of my favorites was you—well . . ." Her voice trailed off as her arms wrapped around his neck again, as she pulled him flush against her. "I really shouldn't."

"Go on." He was trembling against her. Was he breathing anymore? He couldn't tell. All he knew was that he had a beautiful naked woman wrapped around him, ready, wanting, needing him.

She nudged him to lean his head closer to her. "Slughorn had paired us up. You were supposed to teach me some potion. I forget which. I stirred it the wrong way, which annoyed you to no ends."

So far her fantasy sounded plausible. Slughorn had, after all, forced him to tutor her a few times over their years together at Hogwarts. It was how their head of house made sure Slytherin did well when it came to the house cup. Pair up the brilliant students with the dreadful ones to study. Almost always he had paired his students by years, but no one wanted to work with the witch who had managed to destroy classroom number ten and almost the entire stock of Horace's private ingredients.

"So, you came up behind me to correct me. I could feel your breath on my neck. Your heart beating against my back. Your warmth."

His eyes narrowed on her as a memory quickly flashed to the surface.

"I turned my head to ask you what the hell you were doing, and our lips accidentally brushed against one another's. Like this." She turned her head slightly before showing him.

His hands pressed more against the wood to keep himself from shoving her back against the table and snogging her senseless. When she pulled back a moment later, he felt slightly disappointed and his lips felt rather hollow without her kissing him anymore.

"And then?"

"Nothing," she replied with a shrug and feigned sigh.

"No. There's more. There has to be." His voice had almost cracked.

She laughed softly. "Well, I can't give away all my fantasies, Severus."

He scoffed before his hands went to her hips. "You're a tease, Sinistra. A wretched succubus who seduces poor souls for her own merciless pleasure," he grumbled, brushing off her giggles.

"Guilty."

"Unfortunately for you, I know just the way to deal with dark creatures like yourself."

"Do you now?" she purred, her arms going back to his neck.

"Oh yes. You see, I'm well-versed in the Dark Arts. Succubus, vampires, witches, sirens, dryads: they have no power over me as I know all their tricks, _your_ tricks. So, you, my dear siren, beautiful succubus you are, will fail miserably."

"We'll see about that."

"Yes. We shall," he replied before he lifted her up off the table. He could feel his body react more to her then, but he pushed past it. He was on a mission. And he'd be damned if he didn't get them to his bed. He slowly maneuvered them out of his labs, pausing only briefly to reactivate his wards around his lab to ensure Harrison or anyone else didn't go in there without him. That feat was damn near impossible thanks to the woman currently trying her damnedest to distract him by pressing kisses everywhere she could reach. Once he was certain he was successful, he continued down the corridor.

They were almost there when she slipped down him, stumbling slightly as her feet managed to reach the ground again. He managed to steady her, his lips returning to hers as his arm wrapped around her waist. Several times, they bumped against the wall, but still they continued onward. He slowly pushed the door closed behind them once they reached his bedroom, gasping when he felt the sudden cold surround his lower half a second later as she had somehow managed to vanish his sweatpants. He still had his robes on, though. All the good they did.

She ran her hand up his bare chest with a soft laugh, his muscles clenching underneath her fingertips. "Let's see if you exceed expectations, hmm?" she drawled before throwing her head back and laughing when he picked her up again like a bride on her wedding night and carried her to his bed.

"Exceed Expectations?" he repeated with a smirk. "I'm going for a full O from you, witch."

* * *

The first thing he noticed upon waking some time later was that something very irritating was tickling his nose. Without a thought given or even an eye opening, he batted the annoying thing away from his face to stop it, pausing when his hand connected with something and he heard the resulting soft yelp beside him. What the hell was that?

Reacting on instinct, he quickly shot up, eyes wide open, snatching his wand from the nightstand before he pointed it at the shadowy figure in his bed. The torches then flared with life, bathing the room in a warm light and revealing the figure to be Aurora. He sighed with a wince, quickly lowering his wand again and setting it back on the nightstand. Well, that was stupid of him in hindsight.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly, gently touching her arm.

"You mean after you hit me, Severus?" she replied with a quiet laugh, rubbing her cheek gently. She didn't seem at all fazed by what had happened. At least he could see no anger or hurt in her eyes. "Yeah, I'll live."

He winced again at her words and glanced down guiltily. "I'm sorry, Aurora." If she had any sort of sense, she'd leave him then and save herself from the darkness that always consumed him.

"Don't," she said, returning his earlier touch to her arm. "It was an accident."

"I know, but . . ." He sighed heavily before he finally turned back to her. She was right. It was an accident after all. There was no need to go entirely off the deep end quite yet. He could still fix this. She at least was offering him that option. "Let me see."

"Why? So, you can fuss over me? Or is it so you can beat yourself up some more over something that you and I both know you didn't mean to do?" She didn't wait for his reply. "Yeah, I think not."

"Aurora."

"Severus," she said, matching his tone perfectly.

"Please. Let me see it."

She huffed loudly but complied, lowering her hand. He grimaced when he saw the red mark against her cheek. His fingertips gingerly slid over the mark a moment later, and he watched it disappear as he healed it for her.

"You realize you didn't have to do that, right? It would have went away in a little bit."

"I know," he replied with a nod. "But I wanted to heal it faster for you."

"Well, thank you, but you didn't have to. It was an accident."

"I'm not so certain Pomfrey would have seen it that way," he stated quietly.

"Well, screw her." When he made a disgusted face, she laughed. "Not literally of course, but who gives a damn what she thinks? I know you didn't mean to, and that's all that matters."

He smiled faintly. "You truly see no wrong in me, do you?" He didn't wait for her to reply. "Then it's true what they say. Love is blind."

She rolled her eyes before she moved to get up.

"Aurora?" he called out to her.

"Yeah?" She turned back.

"Do you regret this? Us being together?" he asked quietly.

"Do you?" she replied neutrally.

He sighed, disappointed that she didn't answer his question. When he heard her soft laughs a moment later, his eyes darted back up to her. She was running a hand through her curls and shaking her head at him. She was truly beautiful, a light to his darkness.

"No, Severus. I don't regret it for a moment." She slowly walked back before she jumped onto the bed and crawled the rest of the way over to him. Once she reached him, she smiled and placed a hand against his bare chest. "Do you?"

"No." He then sighed heavily, sliding his hand into hers. "Well, actually, I regret parts."

"Oh?" She gave him a lopsided grin. "Which ones?"

He shrugged, glancing down at her delicate hand in his. "I don't know. The beginning, I guess." When he heard her quiet laughs, he glanced at her. "It's not funny, Aurora."

"On the contrary, my dear Severus, it is," she replied with a wide smile.

"Wonderful," he grumbled, shaking his head.

"Hey," she gently said, slowly pushing his chin back so he would look at her. "The beginning was my favorite part."

"You're mad."

"Maybe," she replied with a shrug. "But seeing you go from nervous as hell to being confident was very, very attractive."

"I could be cleaning a cauldron, witch, and you'd be turned on," he remarked with another sigh.

She giggled softly. "Possibly. It would definitely have to be a really dirty one, though, where you'd really have to scrub at it. You know?" she teased, crying out when he gently snatched ahold of her and rolled on top. Her tongue slowly darted out between her lips as she licked them, staring up at him.

"You have a very dirty mind, witch." He could just imagine the filthy thoughts in her mind currently, as he stared down at her.

"If you only knew," she purred back, running a hand up and down his chest.

His eyes narrowed on her before he chuckled quietly. "Luckily—or rather unluckily for you in your case—I can." When he watched her eyes widen in understanding, he drew in a breath to center himself to prepare himself for his casting.

"Wait."

He paused instantly, narrowing his eyes on her in confusion.

"Just be gentle. All right?" she asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

He smiled and nodded. "Always." When she inclined her head in assent, he cast _Legilimens._

Finding himself in an unfamiliar mind was always unsettling to him at first. It always had been. But Dumbledore had pushed him during their lessons to keep at it, to push his uneasiness aside and continue onward to learn all the other person's secrets. After all, when one finds himself at the side of a psychotic sadist like Lord Voldemort, it was very important to always be on guard and learn of other person's intentions as it ensured one's safety.

He could feel Aurora's mind brush against his every now and then. She was undisciplined, unexperienced, though, so she couldn't truly prevent his finding what he looking for. But he could tell by her feeble attempts that she wasn't necessarily trying to push him fully from her mind, however, and that was good to know. Deep down, she knew that he would not hurt her or violate her mind, which was the case with so many other Legilimens.

When he finally found the desired fantasy in the deepest reaches of her mind, he grinned and pulled it to the surface a few seconds later. Faintly, he could feel her breathing increase against him as she likely realized what fantasy he had chosen. He chuckled in response, his fingers threading with hers. It was rather alluring to know they would be watching her fantasy together. A voyeuristic fantasy. Who said he wasn't exciting in bed?

The fantasy quickly shimmered to life in her mind.

They were outside he quickly realized as the fantasy started. The stars were twinkling overhead, and he could hear waves lapping against rocks nearby. He waited a bit more before he finally took in his full surroundings. It was an unfamiliar beach they were on. Tall, foreboding white cliffs rose up a bit from the small, sandy beach. He watched the waves crash against for a moment before he moved on to the next detail. Judging by the light, the moon had to be almost full, which he confirmed by looking up at the dark sky overhead.

The entire setting was beautiful, calming even. He could smell the salty air. Feel the cool breeze as it came in off the water. So that was her fantasy, them shagging on a beach under the moonlight. He supposed he could see the appeal.

He then turned to look towards Aurora, only to pull back sharply from her mind when he saw the horrified look on her face. With a blink, he found himself back in his own mind staring down at her. At the sight of a few tears rolling down her cheeks, he rolled off her, his eyes darting back and forth.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked, his voice trembling. He hadn't mean to if he did.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. Her hands came up, and she wiped the tears away. "No you didn't hurt me." She drew in several shaky breaths, pulling her legs back up and hugging herself.

"Then what?" It was a beach scene. One that he had never been to in fact. Surely it wasn't a reason to cry over, was it? No. No, he was missing something. There had to be something else.

Her eyes darted to his, and she wore a look of extreme pain and grief.

"Aurora?" he murmured, hesitantly reaching out to touch her before he decided against it.

"It, the beach, it, um," her voice faltered before she drew in a deep breath. "It was the beach at Windsor." She wiped a few more tears from her cheeks. "Where I grew up. Where my family's manor is. Where . . ." She swallowed back her tears. "I'm sorry. I'm . . . I know you were just . . ."

He stared at her, horrified by his own actions. How could he have been so stupid? "Shit! Aurora, I didn't know." He moved to pull her into his arms, thankful that she allowed him to. He held her tightly, wishing he could take all the pain that he had caused to resurface away. "I'm sorry."

"It's . . . I know you didn't know. It's okay."

"No it's not," he argued.

"Severus, please," she murmured. "It's okay. I know." She leaned against him, breathing in and out for a few moments.

He felt absolutely horrible. How could he have been so stupid? He didn't deserve her. He didn't deserve anyone. It would be better for everyone if he just left and never came back.

"Will you stop? Please?" she said a few seconds later, seemingly hearing his own silent self-hatred debasement. "It's fine."

"No it's not fine. I hurt you. I—"

"You didn't know, Severus. You didn't know what that was." She turned around, her hands holding his face. "All you knew was that it was a beach somewhere. I don't blame you. Really. I don't. You didn't know."

"I hurt you," he repeated quietly. For a second time this morning, he had hurt her.

"Not on purpose you didn't. You never would."

"You don't know that. You don't know me. I'm not a good man, Aurora."

"You're not a bad one either, Severus."

He sighed quietly. "You're just saying that because you love me."

"Because it's the truth, idiot. You're not a bad man. You're just tragically flawed."

He half-snorted. Tragically flawed? "Is that all?"

"Well, no," she replied with a shrug and half-smile. "Sometimes you're a bastard. And not your garden-variety kind either."

"Is that so?" he drawled, returning her smile with a smirk. It was amazing how easily she could turn their conversation into a more relaxing one. It was as if she had years of practice.

"Yes." She leaned towards him. "And then sometimes you're just a plain arse."

"And here I thought you liked my arse. I'm hurt, Aurora," he drawled, leaning in closer. He could feel her warm breath against his face, smell her berry scent . . . and the strong scent of sex in the air. He chuckled as he recalled their earlier frenzied coupling.

"What are you laughing about?"

He shrugged. "You'll never know."

"Oh really?" She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "Do you know who you're talking to here, Severus?"

"A mediocre witch with little talent for spellcasting and don't even get me started on the atrocious handling of a wand." He watched her scoff as her eyes narrowed in obvious disbelief.

"Is that right? Well, Severus, you weren't complaining earlier with how I was holding your wand." She leaned even closer until their noses were touching. "Now, were you?" She outstretched her arms on either side of him.

He snorted and shook his head. "That's what you come back with? A double entendre? My first-years could have come up with a better retort than you."

She smiled in return, though, and laughed softly, pulling back. "Maybe, but can your first-years do this?" She revealed then that she had a hold of his wand from the nightstand.

"Aurora . . ." he warned, the blood pooling from his face. There was nothing more dangerous than a witch holding a wand. His eyes widened as he watched his wand in her hand gracefully move through the air then, his mind racing with possible spells she was casting. When he finally realized what she was casting, he quickly tried to block her spell but was two seconds too late.

The silver jet of light hit him square in the chest. He doubled over feeling the intense sensation of a hundred fingers tickling him all over his body. He tried to fight the urge to laugh, but he was no match for _Rictusempra_. The laughter roared out of him, and he writhed on his bed, flopping back against his headboard several times as he tried to escape it.

"Aur—Aura—Rora—Stop . . . please . . ." he begged through his forced laughs. "Please."

"No. You called me mediocre and said I had atrocious wand work, so . . ."

When he felt the invisible fingers move suddenly and concentrate all on one single spot, he jerked upwards in surprise. She was going to kill him. He groaned, grabbing her wrist, before he pulled her closer to him.

"Please?" he said through trembling laughs. It actually hurt laughing this hard and this much. He found her eyes, hoping she'd see his pain. The spell ended a moment later, and he fell back against his headboard with a loud sigh of relief. "Thank . . . you," he said through gasping breaths. His eyes closed, and he drew in several deep breaths to calm his heart back down. Of all the spells in the world, Rictusempra was the one he hated the most. He hated being tickled.

However, it was clear that Aurora was not going to have any of this a moment later. His eyes fluttered back open the minute he felt her climb on top of him in order to straddle him. He watched her curiously, noticing that she had placed his wand back on the nightstand beside him.

"What are you doing, witch?"

"I would think that, my dear wizard, is obvious," she replied a grin.

"You nearly killed me."

"Well, next time don't be an arse and say I'm mediocre." Her arms wrapped loosely around his neck. "Or you'll find out just how nasty I can be."

"Touché," he replied, his arms encircling her waist.

"You do look adorable when you're laughing, though."

"I'm anything but adorable," he grumbled.

"Fine. Sexy. Better?" She laughed when he inclined his head to her. "I should be getting back before Pomfrey storms in." She then sighed, leaning forward so their foreheads touched. "I don't want to, though. You know?"

"I do."

She smiled warmly at him before she carded her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes briefly before he gently grabbed her hands.

"I'll visit you. Harrison and me both will."

"That's sweet, but let's be honest here. She's not going to let you anywhere near me after this."

He frowned. "Why? Because we had sex?"

Her smile widened, and she laughed softly. "No, Severus. Because we broke her trust. She said two hours, and we're at—what—almost eight? Though, I'm certain she'll definitely judge me when she finds out what we did for those additional hours."

"It's none of her business what we do or not do together."

"It's not, but she did warn against this."

"What?" He had to have heard her wrong. Warn against what?

"She was concerned that if you and I had sex, that I'd backslide or rather go off the deep end again in order to escape my grief. Like you were. And she's not exactly wrong to be concerned," Aurora admitted with a shrug. "But she _is_ wrong this time, though."

He stared at her, barely blinking as she continued. Had he chosen wrong by agreeing earlier?

"I mean, I wouldn't mind shagging you over and over and never leaving this bed, but I know that's wrong. That we have responsibilities, people who need us. But . . ." She sighed, meeting his eyes again. "But I can't deny that I'm happy when we're together either, that you help me forget what happened if only for a little bit. Does that make sense?"

"I'm a distraction," he murmured, staring at her numbly. That was all he was, wasn't he? A distraction for her? Her earlier words were nothing more than a means to achieve her goal. She didn't give a damn about him. How could he have been so stupid? He had believed her!

"No." She grabbed his hands, threading their fingers together. "You're not. Severus, I promise you that you're not. I love you."

"Love and lust are two very different things, but easily are confused for one another, Aurora," he stated neutrally, trying his best not to let his voice betray the turbulent emotions swirling underneath.

"Stop it. Please." She pulled back from him. "I love you. That's why I wanted this."

"Is it?" he asked. "Or was all of this just an end to justify your means?" He watched her face fall, hating that he was the reason it had. But he wasn't going to be with someone who just used him. He had enough people in his life for that already.

"I apologize for interrupting," a nasally voice spoke from a portrait on the wall.

"What?" Severus replied frowning deeply before he tore his gaze from Aurora, who was getting up out of the bed, and glanced at the portrait Phineas Nigellus was in.

"Madam Pomfrey is outside, wishing to speak with you," Phineas announced, his dark eyes briefly glancing towards Aurora before returning to Severus.

Severus turned to her and said brusquely, "I trust you know the way out of here, Sinistra?"

By the look on her face, he could tell that he had just said the one thing that had hurt her worse than a Cruciatus ever would. A part of him hated himself for saying it, but if she was just using him . . .

"Excuse me?" Phineas Nigellus exclaimed, clearly outraged. "How dare you speak to her in that manner, young man!"

Severus's head whipped back to the portrait, ignoring that Aurora was silently re-dressing. "Keep your nose out of things that do not concern you," he snarled.

"Where it concerns her, it _does_ concern me, half-blood!"

"Phineas, that's enough," Aurora finally spoke, sounding more tired than ever before.

"He should not treat you like that, my dear," the former headmaster of Hogwarts replied in a tender, kind tone. "And if he were any sort of man, he'd apologize for his stupidity just now."

"It's fine," she said quietly before she turned back to Severus, her sleepwear exchanged for a simple dress. "You can think whatever you want, but I'm telling you the truth, Severus. I love you. This wasn't . . . I'm not using you to make myself feel better. I'm not." Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her midsection, as if she was protecting herself. "I don't know how to make you . . . make you understand that. I love you, and I wish you believed me."

It would be so easy to believe her. To believe that she was telling the truth and that she really did want to be with him. That she wasn't using him. But a lifetime of experience had taught him that lies were always easier to believe than the truth, to believe that he could in fact have something good in his life. He had so badly wanted this to be true. He did. He loved her. Loved her more than he had ever loved Evans, than anyone else before, and now as he sat there watching her, he hurt. His heart hurt. It had felt like someone had ripped his heart out and torn it to shreds. Why couldn't he believe her? Why was he automatically assuming the worst? Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe he just needed to stop listening to the darkness for once, stop believing the worst in people, and just . . open himself up fully. Did he risk more pain? Yes, but this was Aurora after all. A woman who had stood by him, who had protected him, who had given herself to him, who loved him. Even in her worst moment, she had protected him. That had to speak for something, didn't it?

He sighed heavily, hearing Demetri's voice in the back of his mind saying, 'Do not fuck this up, Snape.' But that was what he was doing, wasn't it? He was screwing it up royally. Believing that Aurora was like all the others who had come before in his life. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. Whatever happened to giving a person the benefit of the doubt anyway? She always did for him.

"Aurora," he finally said a few seconds later, glancing at her. "I apologize for my words."

"You damn well better," the wizard in the portrait spoke up.

"I shouldn't have said that to you." She stared back at him, swallowing slowly. He could see more tears forming in her eyes and felt his heart constrict in response. "I'm being an idiotic bastard to you, and . . . I was wrong. I know you wouldn't do that." He slowly got up out of bed, wanting to take away the pain he had caused her again. "I'm sorry. I understand if you don't forgive me. I was horrible to you just now . . . and ruining what should have been a very good morning after for us."

He finally reached her, hesitating only briefly before he wrapped his arms around her gently. The second he heard her sobs against his shoulder and felt her grab ahold of him as if she was drowning, he felt the repeated metaphorical punches to his gut. He was such an idiot. How could he even consider that she would do something so horrible to him? He held her gently, rubbing her back as she cried.

"I'm so sorry, Aurora." At the sound of the disapproving scoff from the portrait, he glanced towards Phineas. "Inform Pomfrey we'll be there in a moment please." He could tell from the look on the other wizard's face that the former Headmaster was not thinking highly of him right then, but Phineas complied and left. Brushing back her curls, Severus sighed silently and kissed the top of her head gently as he felt her tremble even more violently against him. "I'm sorry, Aurora. I'm sorry I'm such a bastard to you sometimes. That I hurt you . . . that . . ." The words died on his lips when he suddenly heard a gargling noise from her. "Aurora?" He pulled back sharply, his eyes widening at what he saw. "Aurora!" He quickly lowered her to the floor, feeling her jerk violently against him. He kept her rolled on to her side so she didn't choke any longer. "Pomfrey!" he yelled, his heart racing as he lowered his wards. Aurora was seizing. Was it a poison in her system? A reaction? A . . . "Aurora!" He heard the loud footfalls, not bothering to glance at whom he knew had to be Madam Pomfrey.

At the sounds of light chanting a moment later, he glanced at the matron, noticing her wand waving furiously over Aurora. She was deep in a spell.

"What is this? What's happening to her?" he asked with an panicked edge to his voice.

"Hush!" the matron snapped, glaring at him before she returned to her work.

His eyes darted back and forth between her and Aurora. It seemed a lifetime had passed before Aurora finally stilled and relaxed.

As the horrible silence continued, he finally broke down and asked, "What happened?"

"What happened?" Pomfrey repeated before she scoffed harshly. "This is exactly why I said two hours, Severus Snape! Not eight! Two!" Pomfrey sharply said, pointing her finger at him. "She has potions she has to take. Otherwise, this happens! Now, I get it. I do. You're both madly in love with one another, but, damn it, Severus! When I say two hours, I mean two goddamn hours!"

"She was fine just a bit ago."

"No, Severus, she was not," Pomfrey hissed, glaring at him some more. "You are very lucky that I've been monitoring her since you two have been acting like hormonal children or she'd have died!"

He was taken aback by her declaration. "What's wrong with her?"

His question took a bit of wind out of her angry sails. Poppy sighed softly. "I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? You're a Healer, Pomfrey!"

"I'm well aware of that, Severus," she hissed. "But I haven't figured out yet if it's being caused by a curse, potion, or something else. It clearly whatever it is was activated by her taking Bliss. But that is all I know as of right this minute. Now, if I were you, young man," she stated briskly, her wand in hand and quickly flicking at Aurora's unconscious body, "I'd get dressed and get your son. We're taking her back to the hospital wing. Maybe you can figure it out since you two seem to know each other well enough now to engage in sexual activities for half the night."

Severus didn't know whether to wince or argue with her. He hated not knowing how to react, but he was finding himself more and more in these types of situations. He would have to get better at rolling with the punches so to speak and adapt to the ever-changing situations he found himself in these days.

"Do I need to repeat myself, Mister Snape?" the matron replied deathly quiet.

"No, Madam," he answered like a scared first-year, waving his wand down himself to magically dress himself. Once his usual robes were on, he felt a bit better but not by much.

"Excellent." She stood up and levitated Aurora up off the ground. "I do hope for both your sakes you at least managed to protect yourselves last night before engaging in intercourse."

Severus felt his cheeks flush, and his eyes went to the floor instantly. It was like hearing his mother lecturing him all about the birds and bees again. He couldn't get enough spit to wet his mouth enough to respond to Pomfrey's muttered statement.

"But considering how foolish you both were to engage in such an intimate encounter in the first place, clearly not knowing a damn thing about one another—Oh, whom am I kidding really?" She threw a hand up in exasperation. "It's truly a miracle Hogwarts isn't full of pregnant girls year after year."

Severus had to agree with her on some level. Though, he himself as Head of Slytherin House had made it a point at the start of every term to have his prefects discuss with the younger students about safe sex practices. It was one of the few things he had adopted from his own Head of House Horace Slughorn. After all, he would be damned to be the first Head of House in nearly a half-century to have a pregnant student in his house.

"Are you coming or what?" Pomfrey snapped. He followed soon after with a groggy Harrison.


	20. Warnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the long wait. Enjoy as always.

Glancing at the cot beside him, Severus sighed inwardly and turned away from his sleeping child. Curled up in a tight ball near the edge of the cot, Harrison didn't look comfortable at all, but Severus wasn't going to leave him alone in the dungeons either just so the boy could sleep in his own bed and be comfortable. In fact, the thought of being apart from the boy was truly horrifying to him these days. He didn't ever want to be apart from him again. Not when there were real dangers out there in the world like rogue Aurors, escaped Death Eaters, and the other garden-variety instruments of mayhem. No. He would keep them together for as long as he could. And right then at that particular moment, he knew they needed to be there in the hospital wing. His frown immediately deepened a moment later. Didn't they? His eyes returned their gaze to Aurora's sleeping form on the cot next to him. He was sitting in between both her and Harrison's cots with them on either side of him.

It had been a few hours since Madam Pomfrey brought Aurora back to the hospital wing. And in that time, Severus hadn't seen any real improvement in her condition. At least not anything of note in his opinion. She still hadn't regained consciousness after her seizure.

He leaned forward a bit and brushed back a curl from her lips a moment later. He hated waiting. It was so pointless, so much of a waste in the end. Not to mention, waiting always led to his mind wandering as it was utterly bored. He needed to be doing something. Fixing this somehow, someway. But the file in his lap provided him no answers, only more questions. He sighed quietly and ran a hand through his hair.

The notes in the file were a collection of observations and examinations from Pomfrey, a healer from St. Mungo's, and Aurora's own mother. Pomfrey's notes along with the St Mungo's healer were easy to discern. Not Syra's, though. More than a few times, he found himself having to reread the woman's notes and frown even more at what he had read. She came off in her notes as so unfeeling, so cold even. While he could understand the need to write in a clinical approach if the patient was a stranger, he was flabbergasted to know that Syra's notes had been about her own daughter, her child. It was as if Syra never cared for her, never had a sliver of love in her heart for her. It was appalling really.

"Well?" a brusque voice asked suddenly.

He glanced up towards the sound, sighing when he saw Madam Pomfrey slowly approaching with her wand drawn. It was time for her to examine Aurora again. Had an hour already passed? How quickly time was passing now it seemed.

"Interesting read, isn't it?" Pomfrey stated with a scoff as she motioned to the folder in his lap while she ran her wand over Aurora. "How that woman was her mother was always beyond me. Now, her father—well, him I could believe being related to her."

He nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. There was so much documented by Syra. In fact, it read more like a research report on a lab rat being subjected to several experiments if he were honest.

"Mister Fiori brought her and Orin here, which I'm certain you ascertained from my report. Her vitals were stable, and her injuries weren't really significant. A few bumps and bruises really."

He nodded again, recalling the matron's report. "You noted that her heart rate was low?"

"Yes, as was her temperature, but it had been storming at Windsor I believe. They were all soaked to the bone when they arrived at least. I gave her a quick Pepperup in fact to ensure she didn't become ill. But the low temperature wasn't anything to be concerned about at the time." She paused and glanced at him as if she was finally catching his line of thinking. "Why?"

"She usually runs a lower temperature, doesn't she?"

She shrugged and replied, "Come to think of it, I did notice that trend sometimes. Why?" Her eyes narrowed on him. "What are you thinking?"

He shrugged, turning back to look at Aurora. She seemed pale, whiter than she had ever been before. In fact, she usually had a bit of a healthy glow to her, almost tan under certain lighting.

"You examined her fully that night, correct?" he inquired.

"Yes," Pomfrey answered, drawing the word out with narrowed on eyes leveled on him. "Why?"

"And other than a few bumps and bruises, you found nothing to . . ." His voice faltered slightly.

"Spit it out, Snape."

As if it was that easy, he thought. Running a hand through his hair again, he sighed heavily and licked his lips slowly. It would certainly make sense. At least partly, that was. Though, not everything was lining up exactly.

"Severus Snape," Pomfrey bristled with her hands flying to her hips, interrupting his thoughts, "you will answer me this moment." Her eyes narrowed into slits on him. "What are you insinuating?" Still there was no response. "Well, what are you waiting for?" she groused. "Out with it already."

He couldn't say it. Not yet at least. Not until he was absolutely certain that it was the only possible explanation. After all, if his suspicions were correct, everything would change. Everything.

"Did she admit when she started taking Bliss?" he finally spoke a few second later.

"Right after her mother's death. Why?" She crossed her arms and glared at him when he didn't elaborate. "Severus?" She drew his name out with hard eyes focused on him.

"What if your theory about it being the result of the Bliss was wrong?" he replied quietly. "What if it was something before that?"

"Like what?"

He looked back down at the file in his lap. The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place ever so slightly. It would certainly explain Syra's clinical approach of documenting every little thing of her daughter's life. But it went against what he knew. Against everything he knew.

His eyes darted back to Aurora before he slowly stood up, noticing that something was amiss. He looked her over, thankful to see that she was clearly still breathing. He couldn't put his finger on it, but something wasn't right. Something was missing.

"What is it?" the matron asked taking note of his look.

"Something's missing," he replied quietly, shaking his head.

"Well, I'd imagine a great deal is considering she's still unconscious," Pomfrey remarked dryly.

"No. That's not it, Poppy. It's something else. Something's—I don't know—missing from her."

He then noticed the matron examining Aurora closer as well. He was thankful that he didn't have to explain any further than that, as he couldn't. He just couldn't place what was missing. There was something, but what was it?

"It's her necklace," a male voice suddenly spoke up from the shadows.

Severus's dark eyes darted to where the intruder was instantly as Severus's wand slipped into his hand silently and at the ready. Where had the man come from? More importantly, who the hellwas he for that matter? If there was one thing Severus hated the most, it was definitely surprises. He couldn't anticipate those, prepare for them properly.

"What?" Pomfrey replied before her head whipped back to Aurora to confirm the man's words. She didn't seem to be alarmed by the intruder in the slightest. In fact, it was almost as if she knew the stranger it seemed.

Severus's fingers curled tighter around his wand in response, waiting for the other man to make a threatening move first. After all, it wasn't considered self-defense if he killed the other man in cold blood. And judging by how Pomfrey was reacting, Severus knew he couldn't count on her to back up his story if anything occurred between the two. Not that he had a lot of people to back him up these days.

"She's not wearing her necklace, Madam," the unfamiliar young man coolly repeated as he finally stepped out into the light to reveal himself fully. He wore a navy button-down shirt with his collar undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black trousers with a black belt and shiny silver slender buckle, and black dress shoes. With the young man's short dark hair spiked up in the front as well, the seemingly twenty-year-old man looked like he had just come from some semi-formal event. His lifeless, dark eyes drew Severus in as he briefly glanced at him before he turned away. "He ripped it off her that night."

"She hasn't worn her necklace since then?" the matron gasped, her hand pressed against her chest with wide eyes. "You're joking?"

Death-gripping his wand now, Severus frowned, wondering why Pomfrey was so startled by this piece of information. It was a necklace for Merlin's sake. It was, therefore, hardly a life-or-death matter. Yet Pomfrey was acting like it was the worst possible news in the history of the world right then when there was an intruder in the castle.

"I didn't even notice that during my examination of her," Pomfrey remarked aloud, shaking her head as she turned back to the younger man. "She's truly been without it ever since June?"

"She has," the younger man replied solemnly.

Deciding that enough was enough with this ridiculous farce he was witnessing, Severus stated with a scoff, "So what? It's a necklace for Merlin's sake! She can get another one." _He_ could get her another one if it was _that_ big of a deal.

"No. You don't understand," Pomfrey began before a pained look quickly crossed her face. She must have realized something just then and stopped herself from revealing anything more to him. She, in fact, glanced to the floor to avoid his eyes, which was never a good sign in his opinion.

"She's worn that necklace since a few seconds after her birth," the younger man stated softly, picking up where Pomfrey had stopped.

"What?" Severus whirled back towards the intruding man. He had to have heard him wrong. Did he just say that Aurora had been wearing that necklace a few seconds after her birth? Didn't Aurora's parents know anything about children? Brats always put things in their mouths. In fact, Severus himself had to chide Harrison about it more than a few times. If it was that important of a necklace as they were making it out to be by fussing as such, no parent in his right mind would allow his child to wear such a precious heirloom, especially not after she was just born. It was preposterous.

The younger man laughed softly as the silence ticked on, which only further irritated Severus. "I would not expect you to understand considering that you've only recently stepped into her life from the shadows." The younger man then cocked his head to the side with his emotionless eyes narrowing slightly as a corner of his lips twitched slightly. "But I would have thought you'd have at least learned a bit about her considering."

Severus stiffened at the man's words. Just what was the arrogant prick insinuating exactly?

"After all, I know she poured all over studying you and your family over the decade-plus that she's known you," the young man stated with a listless shrug. "But what do I know anyway?"

"Precisely," Severus hissed with a dark glare. "What do you know?" He watched the younger man's thin smile slowly deepen before he heard the man's lifeless laughs. "I fail to see what's so funny."

"Forgive me, Madam," murmured the younger man as he bowed his head to Pomfrey.

What did she need to forgive the man about exactly? Severus's eyes narrowed briefly, and his fingers tightened even more around his wand. If he held it any tighter, he knew that it would surely break. While he couldn't quite place it yet, he knew this man across from him was a threat to his family somehow. And threats always met the end of Severus's wand one way or another.

"For what, dear?" the matron kindly replied.

If there was a response, Severus surely didn't hear it. For a moment later, he found himself being grabbed by strong arms that appeared out of nowhere followed by a rush of icy air and the feeling of brief weightlessness and then darkness. He drew in a deep breath, the air chilling him to the core. His vision had blurred into nothingness, but he could still feel the strong arms around him. Strong arms that refused to release him. And then all of it was gone just as sudden as it had appeared.

When his eyes reopened, he took a step back in surprise. Somehow he had . . . His mouth opened and closed as he stared at the young dark-haired man across from him. How in the hell was he now on top of the Astronomy tower? No one could Disapparate in Hogwarts! Not unless the Headmistress . . . He swallowed the lump in his throat, as his mind raced as he considered the meaning.

"Now that that's out of the way, we can talk without any pesky interruptions," the young man declared, entirely too pleased with himself for Severus's liking. He crossed his muscular arms across his chest and grinned with two pointy fangs pointing out from beneath his pale lips. "I'm Declan Fiori, and you, wizard, are a pain in my arse."

A vampire had come to Hogwarts . . . again.

"Declan Fiori?" Severus repeated quietly, watching him like a hawk. He, of course, knew the name, having heard it from Demetri, Minerva, and Aurora. But actually standing in front of the man whom the three ladies, even Pomfrey for that matter, considered to be a non-threat was a different story. It had to be the vampire powers lulling the women into a sense of security, he decided, because standing right then in front of him, it took everything in Severus not to hex him to bits and pieces.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Declan replied a bit testily. "Though, I must admit . . ." his voice trailed off for a second. "The way she described you, I would have imagined—well, not this."

Severus instinctively clenched his wand tighter defensively. "Just what exactly do you mean by that?" After all, the same about not matching up to her description could have been said about the arrogant prick across from him.

"Do you have a hearing problem, wizard? Or are you just _that_ dense? I mean, if you are . . ."

"I could turn you into ash in a second, vampire, so I would choose my words—" Severus's words died on his lips when his wand suddenly vanished from his hand. His head whipped back to the vampire, his eyes widening in horror. There in the vampire's hand now was Severus's wand being twirled in Declan's fingers.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Declan said with a fake laugh. "You were saying, wizard?"

"Give it back," Severus hissed, glaring at the man.

"Give _what_ back?" the vampire replied innocently, smirking and showing off more of his pointy fangs. "Oh! You mean your little death stick? This?" He waved Severus's wand flippantly. "Yeah. No. I think I'll hold onto this until you can behave yourself. After all, I've been fairly cordial to you considering the circumstances."

"Considering the circumstances?" Severus repeated with a deep growl through clenched teeth. "What circumstances?"

Declan scoffed and shook his head. "Back to playing dumb, I see."

Clenching his teeth even tighter, Severus took a step towards the vampire. "What the hell are you talking about, nightwalker?"

"Your messing with time. Or do you not recall that? I mean, it only did give you your son after all. It wasn't like it was a big deal or anything, right?" Declan drawled with another carefree shrug. He then took another step closer to Severus so they were nearly touching. "And then there's the whole ignoring Mistress Aurora for decades and making her have to almost beg for your attention." His smirk widened a bit more before he said, "Which honestly I don't see the appeal of why she would when you're so . . . ordinary."

Ordinary? Who the hell was he calling ordinary? Severus stood straighter and glared at the vampire, wishing he had a stake to end the annoying pest right then.

"That's enough, Declan," a voice called out. "You've riled him up enough."

It couldn't be. Severus whirled around, his wand all but forgotten now. It was impossible. Yet there it was . . . or rather there _she_ was. There near one of Hogwarts' ramparts stood Syra Sinistra, Aurora's mother, in flesh and blood. "How . . .?"

"Wizards," Declan chuckled deeply, handing back Severus's wand. "They always believe what they're told like little sheep all ready for slaughter."

"Leave us. Now," Syra ordered, her voice soft and calm as her icy blue eyes remained on Severus while her long blond hair blew around in the light breeze.

"Yes, Lady Syra." A moment later, Declan was gone from the tower.

"How is this possible?" Severus asked breathlessly. She couldn't be standing in front of him. She was dead. That was what everyone had claimed. It was what Aurora had believed. "You were killed."

Syra stood perfectly still, her eyes never wavering from his as he spoke. Her tight curls waved in the breeze as her long flowing blue robes whipped around her eerily.

"Aurora grieved for you," Severus declared, feeling his strong emotions bubble to the surface. To this, he saw Syra's face soften ever so slightly. It was minute, but it was there. "How are you standing there before me right now when according to your daughter you were murdered last June?"

"While I don't expect you to understand—"

"Understand?" Severus growled, his eyes narrowing on her in anger.

She scoffed at his interruption and shook her head slowly. "I knew the moment I saw you that day at St. Mungo's who you were. The boy was a surprise I admit," she stated with a soft laugh, "but when Narcissa mentioned that she was having trouble determining the boy's paternity, I knew what had happened. Not fully of course. For that, I needed Declan, but I knew enough to realize the boy wasn't yours." Her icy blue eyes remained locked with his. "Don't get me wrong. Narcissa—she's acceptable in her alterations, quite exceptional actually at times, but not enough to truly fool the Aurors. She's still learning of course, and with time and experience, she'll become better at it. Exceed even me one day."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The right side of her lips curled upwards ever so slightly. "Because you need to understand that I could have, if I wanted to, thrown you to the Aurors right then, Severus. Instead, I helped conceal more of the boy's true lineage for you."

If that were true . . . "Why?"

She laughed darkly, rolling her eyes. "Because my daughter loves you, Severus. I'd have thought that much was obvious at this point. After all, had we not done all this, she'd have been there at your side this year at Hogwarts, pining after you as she's always done, hoping for just one second you'd see her and return her affections so you both can live happily ever after."

He ignored the utter distaste and disgust she held for him in her words. "She's done that, though. We're both very much happy."

"Oh, yes, much to my dismay, I'm aware." Syra shook her head again, her blond locks bouncing slightly against her slender shoulders. "I thought she'd stay away from you, distract herself with Albus's pathetic excuses of missions, but no." She scoffed as her eyes hardened on him. "Her love for you just couldn't keep her away. When Declan told me he had seen her in Diagon Alley that day fighting off your attackers, I knew it was the beginning of the end. That she had broken through my spell. Once again, I underestimated the power of love."

Syra had done this to keep them apart? "Why?" he croaked. "Why did you try to keep her away from me?" He tried very hard not to let her hear the pain in his voice, but he was failing badly.

She sighed heavily, letting some of her earlier anger disappear. "While I may not have been attacked nor was her sister or father, _she was_ , Severus." She frowned slightly when he stared back at her in disbelief. "As a father, I'm certain you understand the need to protect your child at all costs. That you would do anything to keep your child safe. Yes?"

He could certainly understand that action, sure, but that didn't mean he agreed with her methods of madness she had implemented in this case. And for what?

"I wasn't privy to all of the details," Syra declared a moment later, "but, suffice it to say, Aurora was attacked on her way to Windsor that June night in question. She was heavily intoxicated, drowning herself in alcohol after seeing you with the boy in Diagon Alley all happy and such. Thus, considering her emotional state at the time, it's no wonder why it was so easy to get her to drink poison."

"Poison?" That was the first he had heard of that. Was this another misdirection? He'd had so many of those this year.

"Indeed." Syra shook her head slowly, her eyes finally breaking her stare with him. "Declan hadn't recognized the signs immediately. He just assumed the man who had handed Aurora the cup was one of the bartenders and that she had ordered it. She didn't seem at all surprised when the drink arrived according to him, so he thought nothing of it. When she Disapparated to return home, it activated the poison in her system as it had been signaled to by her magic. The moment she reappeared in our foyer at Windsor, she collapsed and seized violently in front of me."

Severus stood listening to Syra's story, unsure if this was the truth or not. It was becoming very hard to tell what was true and not nowadays. So many times now he had fallen on his face, thinking one thing only to learn later it was another. Misdirection, lies, secrets, he was done with all of it.

"I hope you never experience that with your children," Syra stated emotionlessly. "Because it is something you will never forget, I assure you." Her eyes then re-met his. "I thought at first that it was due to the excessive amount of alcohol in her system, so I attempted to flush it out of her and when that didn't work I attempted to dilute it. Her seizure became more pronounced, more violent, with my actions, though. I couldn't understand why. It was just common alcohol based on how she smelled. It wasn't until she bit her tongue and drew blood that I knew. I tried the common antidotes at first. And then a bezoar, which didn't have any effect either. I . . ." Syra paused, her voice trailing off for a moment before she blinked and continued, devoid of all emotion again. "I was not going to lose her."

The way Syra had declared that sent chills down his back.

"I ripped her necklace off, knowing what it would mean." A flicker of some emotion quickly flashed across her face again before it vanished and was replaced with the familiar blankness. "I've buried so many children over the years. You wouldn't know the pain you feel afterwards. I didn't want to bury the one who actually survived, my strong little warrior." Syra's head lifted up a bit more. "Therefore, I took a chance and did something I had hoped I would never do." She paused again before she licked her lips and started again. "After ripping her necklace off, I knew it would start a cataclysmic attack on her system. I've cataloged everything about my daughter since learning of her conception, filing it away for future knowledge."

Even though he was beyond confused by her words and declarations, he didn't dare interrupt her now. He knew that Syra needed to get all of this out for some reason. He just needed to be patient to learn that reason.

"I could hear my daughter's heart slow. Feel the life slowly leave her as the poison ravaged her body as the part of her that I suppressed long ago finally woke up." Syra's lips pressed tightly together for a moment as she paused again. It was unnerving to watch her stare back at him not breathing the entire time before she finally spoke again. "While I don't expect you to understand what I did, it is important that you are aware of what you are signing up for by being with her."

He couldn't hold the words back any longer. "You turned her?" He flinched when Syra laughed harshly in response a moment later.

"Turned her? Oh no, Severus." Syra shook her head slowly before she crossed her arms. Her icy blue eyes watched him carefully for a few moments as if she was debating something with herself about him. As the seconds slowly turned into minutes, she finally broke the silence and quietly drawled, "Did you truly not think it was strange that of all the properties, all the places in the world, a group of vampires fleeing as they were hunted chose Windsor of all properties?"

Once more he was reminded that he didn't know that much about Aurora and her family. It was beginning to become a horrible inconvenience for him. He remained silent, though, as she stared at him for a brief moment longer before he heard her soft laugh in astonishment.

"Aurora truly didn't tell you about growing up around vampires?"

"She briefly mentioned it," he replied quietly. When her icy blue eyes narrowed, he added, "That her great-grandfather or grandfather or someone on that side had offered the vampires refuge, and that they chose to help out in turn for this kindness."

Syra's lip twitched slightly before she said with a snort, "I see my daughter's forgotten some of her family history already. Orin always did tell me she never did care about it." She shook her head slowly, her body weight shifting slightly. "Family, however, is very important, wouldn't you say, Severus?" Her icy blue eyes were staring deep into his.

He stared back at her, unsure of how to respond to that exactly. Of course family was important.

The half-smile grew on Syra's face before she lifted her hand up. "You don't have to answer of course. Your lack thereof says quite a bit actually."

Severus frowned deeply in response. "I don't understand why you're telling me any of this, Syra." He truly didn't. "You start with one thing, and you then move on to an entirely different subject. Just get on with it already. What did you do? What does any of this have to do with Aurora? And more importantly is she going to be all right now?" Those were the most important questions after all. The rest of it was just mindless distractions.

"So impatient you are. You must get that from your mother," Syra replied dryly. "Very well. I'll connect the dots for you."

"Thank you," he bitingly retorted.

"However, to do that, you're going to have to exercise a bit of patience for me. After all, I do only have to condense six hundred years of family history into a few sentences for you and your miniscule attention span."

Severus clenched his jaw and glared but he said nothing.

"On her father's side, Aurora descends from the broken line in the Black family tree. Phineas, the son of Phineas Nigellus Black—I take it you've heard of him, yes?" She continued when he inclined his head sharply in obvious anger. "Good. Phineas Nigellus would be Aurora's great-great grandfather with Phineas himself being her great-grandfather obviously. Phineas had met Catalina at Hogwarts his seventh year. She was a Ravenclaw, and he was a Slytherin. He fell for her hard like all the other boys at the time. She had told him she was a Muggleborn. It was a lie, though. A well-crafted one that she had used for more than half a century."

Severus's brows furrowed instantly. He had to have heard her wrong. Half a century?

"No, you heard correctly, Severus. I did indeed say 'more than half a century." Syra smiled thinly at his obvious surprise. "She was already a full-fledged vampire when she met Phineas. Had been ever since her family manor had been attacked by a ruthless vampire who had for reasons unknown spared young three-year-old Catalina from the painful deaths her family endured. She was raised as the vampire's daughter, and he turned her on her seventeenth birthday so that they would always be a family. That was until he left to return to his family instead, leaving her alone in Europe as he went to the Americas. But that's another story for another time."

"So, she created fake lives to play out for fun?"

"In essence, yes. The last one she used was Catalina Sinistra, a Ravenclaw Muggleborn from, I believe, the Scottish highlands. It was another persona of hers of course created from boredom. Which I myself can understand now in my current state."

Severus wasn't so convinced he could, but he wisely remained silent.

"The moment she stepped into Phineas's life, though, he found himself on an entirely new and at times unsettling path. He openly started to rebel against his father and his ideals. He no longer believed the old ways were the right answer anymore. That Muggles were lesser beings and the numerous other blind hatred that was spewed back then. Ultimately, this led to Phineas being cast out of the Black family, which he gladly cast aside and went so far as to never use the surname again."

Severus listened in sheer confusion. It went against the story he had heard from Regulus years back. Yet if this were true, he could see why Regulus wouldn't have heard it.

"At some point," Syra resumed, "Catalina informed Phineas of her being a vampire and her true identity. Instead of being Catalina Sinistra, a Muggleborn Ravenclaw from the Scottish highlands, she actually was Catalina Deveraux, a pureblood witch from a small manor lying on the south side of Pembrokeshire. They married, and she quickly realized that the one thing he desired and wished for more than anything else was a child, a child she couldn't give him for obvious reasons. At least not without some help. So, she worked day and night to solve that age-old mystery that countless souls before them had tried and failed. There had always been rumors, you see, of an elixir out there in the world that could temporarily cure vampirism. Even now, it's still spread. It is always followed up nowadays with the warning, though, that the elixir would come at a cost."

An elixir to cure vampirism? He supposed it wasn't much of a stretch considering Wolfbane helped those who suffered the symptoms of lycanthropy. His mind considered this elixir for a moment longer. Did it use moonstone as well or did it use instead moondew? What sort of healing agent was added to it to ensure the vampire didn't turn to ash or truly die right away after being so-called cured?

"The day Catalina died," Syra stated, causing Severus to blink in surprise as he was brought out of his thoughts suddenly, "was the day Alaric Sinistra was conceived."

Catalina had found this so-called cure and used it? His mind reeled with this information.

"She drank the elixir, a mixture of unicorn and dragon blood along with a few other items, and her heart restarted. For one night, she was human again. As her body metabolized the rest of the elixir, Catalina revealed that she had sought out a young witch weeks earlier who would carry their child to term in exchange for food and shelter. You see, while Catalina would be human for one night to create their child, she would not be around to watch their child be born. The cursed life that came with drinking the blood of a unicorn would take over, and she'd turn to ash as a result once the entire elixir was gone from her. Phineas was naturally distraught at learning this. At Catalina's signal, though, the young witch went to them, and together he and Catalina magically implanted the embryo into the young witch. A few hours later, Catalina died, knowing that she had succeeded."

"What happened to the child?"

"Nothing at first. It developed naturally. The young witch did have some peculiar cravings, though. She wanted a tremendous amount of meat. And when she didn't get it, she was very weak. It wasn't until her second trimester that Phineas finally realized the reason for this. The enzyme that helped turn Catalina a vampire was in their son. He had sought out every ancient book on vampires then that he could find. He thought perhaps he could suppress it somehow. To give his son a chance at a normal life." Syra's voice had softened into an almost motherly-tone.

If Severus hadn't met her before, he would have sworn that she truly cared and understood the actions a father would go for his child. However, he did know her, so he knew that everything he heard in her voice was nothing more than an illusion, a trick his mind was playing on him. She didn't care. She couldn't understand. She knew nothing about being a loving parent, about sacrifice.

"Having learned nothing since he didn't have the proper texts, Phineas resigned himself to losing his child as well, believing it would not survive birth. A few weeks before Alaric's birth, though, a miracle took place. Or a curse depending on if you accept my daughter's way of thinking." Syra cynically laughed. "A vampire clan found their way to the family manor after fleeing Romania, or so they claimed at the time. In truth, they felt the child's presence as they had all come from the same bloodline as Catalina."

Severus's eyes narrowed when he noticed Syra's slight smirk grow a bit. She seemed almost happy about something, as if she had just recalled a pleasant memory. He briefly wondered what it was that she was remembering.

"It was then that Declan, Adolphus, Esmée, Kira, and the others became a part of the Sinistra family forever. Protectors of the Azrial, Adolphus would always say." Syra turned to meet Severus's confused look. She didn't further explain what that unfamiliar term meant. "Alaric was born not long after their arrival. And with their ancient knowledge, Phineas was able to see to his son's unique needs."

"Alaric was half-vampire, half-human then?"

"He was. Much like Lorcan d'Eath. However, Alaric embraced his magic more than anything. He went to Hogwarts just as his father had before him, and he was sorted into Slytherin naturally. Orin in fact carries the same marker as his father, the same marker in Aurora. However, being that Orin's mother Delphine was entirely a full-blooded witch, he's not so, shall we say, affected by it."

"Did they know?"

Severus reeled with this information. Did the castle know that a vampire was amongst their midst? Of course he knew that werewolves were after all accepted in secret thanks to Lupin, but vampires? Then again, Syra had stated that Catalina had went to Hogwarts as well. What other creatures had been permitted to pass through the gates of Hogwarts over the centuries, he wondered.

"That Alaric was part vampire? Orin as well? Oh, yes. The professors were aware. It didn't matter to them much as long as no students showed up with bite marks anywhere." Syra laughed quietly again, her blue eyes twinkling in the soft light. "Orin always remarked how his dad would tell him the best places to bite a witch with no one but you and her knowing."

If he didn't know any better, he'd swear Syra was almost human. She seemed calmer, happier now than he had ever seen her before. In fact, she almost appeared to be . . . normal to him, a loving wife in fact. But that couldn't be considering that she had chosen to become a vampire, to switch off her humanity to become better than she was, stronger.

"You don't know me, Severus," Syra stated coolly, her ice blue eyes locked with his, "so do not attempt to judge me or speculate my reasoning behind becoming a vampire." She had likely heard his thoughts right then. "You'll only make a fool out of yourself after all."

Severus bristled at her words, clenching his jaw slightly. He would have to protect himself better against her powers in the future. "I know enough about you to draw a very good conclusion."

"Oh?" She crossed her arms, leaning back on her heels slightly. "And just what do you know exactly? Or rather what do you _think_ you know?"

"You never loved your family. They were just a means to an end for you." When Syra started to laugh hauntingly, he forced himself not to react. She was after all looking for a reaction from him. She had a similar demeanor to the Dark Lord if he were being honest.

"Is that so?" Her sneer deepened as her laughter darkened. "Do not think for a moment, half-blood," she drawled nastily "that you are untouchable because of your relationship with my daughter. It means nothing in the big picture." She then laughed sinisterly again. "Though, I shouldn't have expected you to act any other way, seeing as how your mother, pathetic witch that she is, was—"

His wand flew into his hand, and he thrust it at her, his eyes flashing angrily. Deep down, he knew he shouldn't have gotten so angry, so enraged by her words just now. She had been baiting him, and he had fallen for it so easily. It was like the many times he had fought Potter and Black. They too had pushed him to the edge so many times, and he, weak that he was, would succumb to his temper and allow it to take over, lashing out violently to anyone nearby. It was why he had dedicated so much time to learning Occlumency. Without it, he'd have died long ago at the hands of the Dark Lord.

"There's that half-blood temper of yours again. You really should learn to control that. You never know when you might run into someone stronger than you." Her smile grew. "Hmm?"

"You know nothing about my mother!"

"No, you pathetic child. It is _you_ who know nothing about her! You know nothing about either of your parents if we're honest. Only the lies they've spread." She crossed her arms and stared at him. "Tobias, the Muggle who really isn't, is he? And Eileen, the poor pureblood who cast aside her magic for love, but she didn't, did she?" Syra scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Please. If only you knew the truth."

"And you do?"

"Of course I do," she scoffed, giving him the familiar 'You're a waste of my time' look. "I make it a point to research everyone involved in my daughter's life."

Severus couldn't help but laugh in response. "How Mother-of-the-Year of you," he drawled. "But, you see, I read your reports on her. So, let's be honest, shall we? You don't give a damn about—" His words died on his lips when he felt suddenly all the air rush out of his lungs and a tightness around his midsection. Across from him, he saw Syra's outstretched palm and her icy blue eyes narrowed on him. Without a doubt, he knew she was using her vampire powers on him.

"Do not ever speak to me like that again!" Her eyes flashed angrily. "You know nothing about me! About my life! You think that because of my writings concerning her health that I don't care for Aurora? You truly are an idiot!"

He started to feel pain, white hot, burning through his body. He could hear screams off in the distance, but it didn't register quite right away that it was actually his. The pain spread to every part. His blood felt as if it was boiling. He could hear his heart's thunderous thumps as the seconds droned on.

"Everything, every little thing, I've done for _her_! For my daughter! You think you know everything, though, don't you? Well, know-it-all half-blood, let me enlighten you, hmm?" She stalked towards him slowly, her fangs bared with eyes hard and cold—full of rage. She spread her fingers out, causing Severus to feel more white, hot pain coursing through his body. "My writings that you've poured over like some sort of obsessive stalker? I wrote them to catalogue symptoms, achievements, you name it, so that if something occurred, I would have all the necessary information to treat her. To learn when and if she turned." She reached forward suddenly and snatched ahold of his jaw to force him to meet her death glare. "Seeing as how I was a healer at St. Mungo's for quite some time, healer-in-charge of many cases in fact, of course my writings would be dry, clinical even. I'd imagine even your writings about potions would be. Then again, I forget who I'm talking to. Severus Snape, the half-blood who knows all, perfect in every way imaginable," she mocked. "There is a flaw in that, of course." She raised her hand, causing him to feel the vice around him tighten even more. He could hear the cracking of his bones. "You may think that I cared so little about her, but if you would look past your long nose, you'd see the truth. But then again I forget. You Princes never could be wrong, hmm?"

She waved her hand away a moment later, causing him to crash to the floor hard.

"I could end you," she declared before she yanked him up from the floor effortlessly. "Crush you like the insignificant little worm you are. Do you know why I haven't, though?" She leaned forward. "Because you're not worth it, Severus. You're not worth my time. My daughter's time. One day she'll realize it. I just hope for her sake it isn't after giving birth to your half-breed spawn."

He clenched his jaw, too tired and too in pain to respond.

"So, go on. Tell her if you must that I'm alive. That her sister is alive. But before you do, do me a favor, will you? Consider for a moment why I'd go to these lengths. Cut myself off from my family. Make my daughter suffer." She laughed quietly when he looked back at her. "Oh, yes, I know. You think it's just because I'm a bitch and a horrible mother. Of course _you'd_ think that, considering whom your mother is. But maybe, just maybe, Severus, there is another reason." She then shrugged. "Or maybe I just _am_ a bitch. Time will tell, won't it?" She released him again, his body slamming back hard onto the stone floor.

He groaned as he lay there face-first on the floor, coughing a few times.

"Or maybe I'm not the one you should be concerned about lurking in the darkness," she murmured near his ear. "Then again, you know all about that, don't you, Severus? The wizard who has been whispering in her ear like this? Giving her a taste of the darkness just so she can save you, her sweet, precious Severus?" She laughed darkly. "Luckily for you, that little stain will be dealt with tonight. But he's just a messenger, not the big, bad one behind it all." She then pressed her lips against his ear. "You're welcome, my dear bastard half-blooded future son-in-law."

A moment later, his body slackened, and he slipped into the abyss of unconsciousness.

* * *

"Snape?" Demetri murmured somewhere off to his left. "Hey, come on. Wake up."

He groaned again, slowly lulling his head to the side. He could smell the heavy scent of antiseptic, knowing that he was once again in the hospital wing. He could also sense Harrison nearby.

"Aurora's been asking for you."

He willed his eyes to open somehow at her words. He couldn't see her at first as his eyes wouldn't fully open, but he could sort of make her out. On a nearby cot, he saw the familiar raven locks of his son. Harrison was sleeping peacefully. He felt himself relax slightly.

"There you are." Demetri laughed quietly. "Welcome back to the living."

Swallowing, he found his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. He weakly pushed himself up.

"Easy there," she said softly, handing him a glass of water. "You're not exactly up to all that much right now actually. Drinking, eating, bathroom stuff, resting, namely resting, that's all Pomfrey's allowing." She grabbed the empty glass back from him and refilled it.

His eyes moved to her before he groaned again. He had never felt as sore as he did right then. He'd have to research ways to protect himself from vampire attacks as soon as possible.

"So, what happened? You meet a werewolf or something up there on the tower?"

"Syra," he whispered, coughing harshly a moment later.

"Syra?" Demetri repeated puzzled. "Isn't that Aurora's dead mother?"

"Not . . . dead," he groaned, taking gasping breaths between words.

"What do you mean, not dead?" Demetri's eyes narrowed on him. "You can't be suggesting—Severus, she was killed." She took a step back from him when he met her eyes, staring as if he had grown a second head. "Aurora saw it—no, you have to be mistaken. It can't be her." She half-turned from him then, pacing as her eyes darted back and forth. "It was someone else. It had to be." A hand ran through her hair before she tugged a few of her locks in frustration. "I mean, that woman was horrible from what I heard, but she wouldn't . . . She wouldn't . . . Severus, she . . ." Horror crossed the young witch's face as acceptance finally won. "Tell me she wouldn't, Severus," she asked with pleading eyes.

He only stared back at her blankly, though.

"Son of a bitch!" Demetri snarled a second later. "But Orin, Aurora, they all witnessed . . . Declan himself said that Syra had been killed. How did she survive?"

He shook his head before he inhaled sharply and groaned. He couldn't put it any other way. He had gotten his arse handed to him by Syra.

"Are you going to tell her?"

His eyes flickered back to Demetri.

"Aurora," she said quietly. "Are you going to tell her about her mother?"

He sighed silently and glanced up to the ceiling. Was he going to tell Aurora that her mother had created an elaborate ruse complete with faking her and her younger sister's deaths? He knew he should, but she likely wouldn't believe him. She'd take it the wrong way, and he'd be alone again. But, then again, without her mother's interferences, she had been by his side, stood with him so far. She needed to know the truth after all.

"Severus?"

"I'll tell her in the morning, Dem," he murmured, wincing when he moved slightly. Merlin, Syra had done quite the number on him. He wouldn't underestimate her again. That was for sure. "After I've rested a bit." He'd tell Aurora everything. She deserved to know it.


End file.
